Seed of Love: Part 6: Sarah and Stephen
by XT-421
Summary: Fifteen years after Sonic's mysterious disappearance, he arrives at Tails' doorstep with a family, and no place to go. Sarah, his only daughter, soon finds a new friend in the forest whom no one but an evil scientist knows his origins...  2.5 year work!
1. Fifteen Years

**Ok, to those of you who know me, you may note that in sequel stories, there tends to be a bit less of the actual characters, and a bit more OCs, this is, I'm gonig to be dead honest, one of those stories. Yes, there is a lot of Sonic and Amy in here, but, for them, the 'magical' part of their romance is overshadowed by the coming of their daughter, so it is more of a parenting thing for them...**

**Well, I hope this story works better than how it did on the Cosmo and Tails Shrine, they didn't seem to like it as much... well, without further adieu...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**The following takes place after the engagement of Daisy Prower, and Brunis the Wolf. (A/N: See 'Seed of Love: Part Five')**

* * *

Lights flashed. Sirens wailed. Alarms from all over the facility were going off everywhere in the command center.

"Get him back now!" A deep voiced boomed throughout the dimly lit hallways in the building. Unfortunately, the creature who was the 'him' heard that message, and was further driven to find a way out.

The little creature, no more than maybe two and a half feet tall, ran on all fours to maneuver his way through the air vents that made up the internal heating of the whole building. He could hear the noises, metal against metal, of the mechanized sentries following him.

He was tired; his host had brutally wiped out his energy over the last few years of torturous experiments in his life, as they had been doing since they had created him. He pondered letting himself be captured, but his memory recalled his last session, where they began to inject new nucleic codes into his DNA, in any attempts to change his abilities. It was all or nothing now.

The little figure claw his way through the metal with his fists that had just become as hard a diamonds, through the ceiling, hoping that he might be able to dig out of it.

Sure enough, his claws began to reach dirt, for the first time ever, and he was getting closer to getting out.

"He's left the building, sir, what do we do?"

"Scramble the air troops then! He is _not _getting farther alive!" The booming voice again shook the foundations of the laboratory.

A look of panic took the figure, and he began to dig faster and harder. A few seconds later, he encountered another first, the light of the moon.

Then, the figure somehow sprouted wings, and began to awkwardly fly away into the darkness.

A beam of searing red energy shot through the air and singed the end of his bird-like wing, and he yelped in pain. But, knowing that failure meant torture, he pushed onwards.

Now, red lined the sky as he helplessly continued to dodge and miss the energy bolts. Every now and again, he would get clipped, and he would howl in pain, but something inside kept him going.

At some point in the night, he lost the robots, but hadn't realized it, and thus continued flying along at his top speed.

He didn't show any signs of stopping, or much less, slowing.

**(A/N: But who and what is this thing? Only time can tell...)**

* * *

Sonic and Amy had both just got home from their long trek in Malavar, and they hadn't seen their old country near the Mystic Ruins area in years. In fact, it had been almost exactly fifteen years. And they hadn't heard from, or seen anyone since Tails and Cosmo got married, and when addressed together, they preferred not be called Sonic and Amy, but rather the Rose family. They were both very curious as to meet everyone again, announce all of the lovely events that happened, and show off their darling daughter to their friends. **(A/N: Well, it is all described in my unwritten story Seed of Love: Part Two, Sonic and Amy, but I haven't gotten to it yet... lol)**

Sonic held Sarah's hand very securely, and Amy held the other hand likewise. Sarah stood, legs trembling, in front of the place that was to be her new home. She was only ten years old, and was still very frightened about a great many things, one such thing being this odd green stuff that her father and mother called grass.

Sarah grew up in a desert, plagued by sandstorms, and ravaged by bandits. Sonic was there in Malavar for that main reason, to stop them, but got caught up with Amy, and fell in love with her enough to start a family. And Sarah was the result of that.

She loved it in the desert, the all did. Open areas to run, little distractions, and aside from the bandits, a nice community. But, the weather had different plans for the three of them, and they had barely escaped a massive storm with just the skin on their backs.

Now, the group stood in front of a familiar, yet slightly aged, door of the Prower residence.

_Ding-Dong_

"I'll get it!" An unfamiliar voice echoed faintly through the house.

A tall, silvery white wolf opened the door.

"My apologies, is this not the house of Miles 'Tails' Prower?" Sonic asked, a bit shocked at the wolf.

"Why yes it is. Hey dad!" The wolf called; yet another surprise to the Rose family.

"I'm not your father yet!" An older, matured version a boy Sonic once knew called back. A fair haired, golden yellow fox came into view. But, unlike most foxes, this one had two tails.

"Tails!" Sonic shouted out with glee.

"Sonic? Well, I'll be! Where'd you come from? Out of the dust like that?" Tails joked, giving his near brother a large hug; the two were about equal in height now.

"If only you knew the half of it. But, I'd like to show you something."

"Hey, why is Amy with you?"

"That is my wife, Tails."

"Wife? Wow, a lot sure does change in fifteen years! Now who is this little girl? Let me guess, your daughter?" He said in a joking manner.

"Why a matter of fact, Sarah is my daughter." Amy answered the kitsune. Tails' jaw dropped.

"Then it is proven. Too much can happen in fifteen years." Tails looked at the little girl. She had emerald eyes, just like both of her parents, a nose similar to that of her father's, and a stance to match. Aside from her nearly baby blue fur coat, she looked exactly like a female version of Sonic, with the exception of a glare in her eye that she had to have obtained from her mother's fiery personality.

"Yeah, speaking of which, where is Cosmo? And how big has Daisy gotten?" Sonic and Amy both began to ask questions, Sarah shyly walked with them as Tails ushered them inside his home.

Sonic, Amy, and little Sarah all took a seat on the couch, and Tails brought his family in.

Cosmo had grown tremendously since Sonic and Amy left her. She was now almost taller than Tails, and had two beautiful, blossoms of rosy pink in her hair. Her smile shimmered like a golden sun as she sat happily next to her beloved husband. She still wore her traditional Seedrian outfit.

Daisy, the little baby that Sonic and Amy had witnessed sprout was almost as tall as Cosmo, her biological mother. Her golden hair was like a ray of light, beaming downwards, but as if the wind had slanted it slightly backwards. She too had blossoming flowers in her hair; with the exception that hers were white with sunny centers, rather than roses. Her sapphire blue eyes eyed the white wolf that had opened the door for the Rose family.

"And, as for the two you do not know, here is Brunis the Wolf, and Brian Prower." Tails announced.

"How do you do sir?" Brunis held out a massive paw that looked as if it could crush Sonic's face with one grasp. The greeting was strong, firm, and all around comfortable.

Brunis stood about a foot and a half above Daisy, and his silvery coat cast the room with a glittery light. From his lavender eyes, an ambient sense of safety and security filled into everyone. He sat next to Daisy, and put his large, burly arm around her calmly. At this, she began to blush wildly.

"Are you?" Sonic was about to ask.

"Yes, we are both engaged." Daisy giggled. And Brunis too blushed.

Brian just sat at the end of the couch, waiting for something to happen.

Brian was different then all of them, and Sonic had no idea how he was related to the Power's. He was too old to be Daisy's son, but he shared many qualities with her. But, unlike any seedrian Sonic had encountered, though he'd admit to only seeing about five ever, Brian had definite ears, and fur, and a black fox nose, three things that no seedrian could have. So, what was he? And his crown of green flower buds made him seem too in tune with nature, which was something no fox had either. Nor any wolf that Sonic had ever seen.

"Um, Tails?"

"Yes Sonic?" Just before they began their long talk, Tails replied.

"How exactly is Brian related to you? He isn't a fox, not that I would speculate that you've been seeing anyone other than your fine wife Cosmo here. And he isn't a seedrian, which Cosmo, I've known you to be able to reproduce asexually." Sonic didn't want to seem rude, but he was too curious.

"Good question really. It's ok Brian, this is that Mr. Sonic I've told you about. He is the guy I followed into those great adventures."

"Wow!" The little Brian cooed at Sonic's glory of older times.

"And now to answer it. Ok, XT helped us after Daisy was suffering some problems at school, and he helped me give birth to that little guy. He is the first ever recorded seedrian hybrid. Our child. Mine and Tails. No one believed it could happen, ha, even I when I had him in my belly for those painful 9 hours did I believe it."

"Nine hours? I had that little firecracker in me for nine months! And you call nine hours painful? Buck up girl!" Amy became angry at Cosmo's simple whine.

"At least some things are impervious to change over fifteen years, eh Sonic?" Tails whispered under the voice of Amy. Cosmo backed up a bit from her threats.

"Um, Amy, please let me explain. He didn't grow in my belly. Nothing is made too. I have only the materials in me to make a seed, and then be able to plant it. To have something grow inside me would probably have killed me. He grew rapidly, and was born in the ground like a normal seedrian."

"Oh, so… wait. He grew from a seed?"

"Yes, a big, softball sized seed. It was something that I didn't like removing. I know you probably had to give birth like normal mammals, but at least she was a bit more malleable than a diamond hard seed."

"That is true, but you do not know pain until you have given a normal, mammalian birth, Cosmo."

"Contraire, I do. Remember the Sonic Driver?" Everyone in the room shuddered.

"Um, honey, let us not talk about that past life. Please?" Cosmo nodded her head in agreement.

"Hey Sarah, why don't you play with Brian over there? And have a bit of fun?" Sonic offered, noticing that his daughter, like him when he was younger, was bored out of her mind sitting around and not doing anything.

"Ok… but what will we do?" She shyly spoke.

"Hey Brian, go show her around the house. And the woods, and the tree house." Tails hinted to his son.

"Not the tree house! That is our secret place!" Daisy barked, as if she had stolen her fiancé's voice for the moment.

"Fine, we'll go exploring!" Brian held his hands at his hipped and stormed out of the room.

"Daisy, for a girl who's getting married soon, you still seem to be pretty immature." Her father joked.

"Well, he started it."

"No, actually that was all you."

"So what? I will never have a son like that!" Daisy said so sure of herself. At the thought of a child, Brunis's cheeks began to fill pink with embarrassment, though it appeared as if no one noticed.

* * *

Once outside, Sarah breathed the air in, and tried to get a taste for it. She was used to dry, desert air, filled with sand, and loads of wind. This air was, calmer, cleaner, and almost tastier. She could smell plants on this air, and smelt their sweet fragrance from miles away. And, they didn't smell like cacti either, which was a really good thing.

"Ok, I am curious about everything, Brian, is it?" Sarah boldly began speaking as she was escorted from the house.

"Why is that?"

"I've never seen so much plant life ever! I grew up in a desert, after all."

"Cool! I've never seen a desert. Well, except for in my story books."

"Well, to be honest, until yesterday, when my dad ran us all away from that storm, I didn't know what a tree looked like from up close." Brian made a gasping noise.

"Come on then! I'll show you them all!" Brian took her hand, and began to run, but Sarah was content on doing her own set of exploring, and she left him behind.

She didn't mean any rudeness, and Brian quickly got over her anyways. But all she really wanted to do was to run, and see the plants. She got her running from her father. She wasn't nearly as fast as him, but she was getting closer, and closer with every inch she grew.

* * *

After a few hours of running around outside, Sarah appeared in front of the Prowers' house, and her mom and dad were waiting patiently, her mom was also tapping her foot.

"Where have you been Sarah?" Amy stared at her with a look of discipline.

"I went running." She answered honestly.

"See? Nothing bad." Sonic congratulated.

"But, you told her to stay with Brian!" Amy retorted.

"No, actually I said 'why don't you go play with Brian?' So, she is not in any violation." Sonic replied truthfully.

"I'm sorry." Sarah held out her arms innocently, and her mom buckled under the cuteness factor. Sarah smirked, and her dad caught it.

"That's my girl…" He quietly whispered to Sarah.

"Ok, I think we should go back to my house." Amy boldly stated.

"No, you told me you sold it." Sonic replied.

"Ok then, how fast can we build our own?"

"Um, if we work together, and find the right wood that we need to build our small home, then we can get it done tonight and sleep in it." Sonic explained.

Sarah was already doing as she pleased, now sleeping humbly in a tree, snoring with great peace and loudness. Sonic and Amy both began to giggle at their daughter's right decision. The Rose family had done too much work as it was today. Now it was time to rest.

**So, what did you think? Tell me everything! I need the support to keep going on this...**

**Any questions? Concerns? Ask me, I don't bite, usually...**

**Please read and review!**

**More coming soon...**


	2. A Typical Morning

**Well, CC, sorry 'bout that... I just was a bit afraid, I'm not so much now... I thank you all for the support...**

**A little quote that I like in this chapter... "**_**I worked with your dad's friend, and their daughter too.. and soon I may be working with you..."**_** (Take a random guess who said that.)**

**Enjoy!**

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The sentries that had been chasing the escaped experiment had by now either died, or gave up and returned to base.

Inside the control room of this laboratory, a young doctor twirled his bright orange beard.

"Why did he have to escape?" He muttered. "I built the darn thing! It was supposed to be the ultimate weapon against Sonic and his friends! A tool, one that could adapt instantaneously to any given environment, even my father would've been proud. But, alas, I cannot control it. Well, at least those pathetic sentries can get it back."

"Doctor Damian? We have our report." A mechanical voice buzzed in on the main speakers in Damian's office.

"Good. Put the creature back in his cell, and get me some coffee."

"Um… Doctor?"

"Is there a problem, my dear sentry captain?" His voice was too calm to be authentic.

"If having to report that the creature escaped my diligent forces is a problem, then…"

"Then I have no use for such a worthless piece of scrap. Goodbye." Damian pressed a small button on the vast control panel in his room, and the he could hear a small explosion on the speakers. "Worthless… I will have to find it myself then!"

Damian looked at a portrait of his father. "I've come from a family of worthless genius's, all claiming to be the greatest of the great. Every single one of them has failed. From Professor Gerald Robotnik, to his father, Doctor Ivo Robotnik, who always was called Doctor Eggman, probably as a joke to his slightly round shape. They all had made great things, but could never use them.

Gerald had created the world's Ultimate Lifeform, but he failed to control it. Eggman had created thousands of robotic armies, only to be destroyed by Sonic the Hedgehog.

After his father ran away in exile, after Damian was cloned from him, Damian had been trying to create a name and title for himself; one that would give the world a sense of fear and respect for the name 'Robotnik'. He didn't have to be evil; he barely wanted to in fact, he just wanted justice upon that dratted Hedgehog who so easily mocked him and his father. Ivo wouldn't do anything, he was too broken to act, but Damian was young, daring, and able. And he had something his father didn't; a real motive for his work.

"I shall bend that creature to my will and motives, and I shall use him to eradicate Sonic and his pathetic family from the face of this planet! Muhohohohohohoho!"

**(A/N: Insert: bag guy number 1.)**

* * *

Amy cradled her small, ten year old daughter in her hands gently. She rocked the sleeping girl calmly in attempts to get her up.

"Sarah, Sarah my little angel, it's time to get up. You've got a new school to go to!" Amy cooed softly.

"Huh? I'm too tired."

"No you're not. You're your father's daughter. He is never tired, and neither are you." She said still calmly.

"Amy… how did I get up when I needed to?" Sonic mused. "Sarah! How would you like a chilidog for breakfast?" Sarah, as fast as a hummingbird can beat its wings, was standing up her father's feet with innocent eyes. **(A/N: I wonder where she got that trait from...)**

"Really?" Her eyes twinkled more than her smile.

"No, you have school today. We are going to go to Tails' house for a quick breakfast, and then you are going to go to school with Daisy, Brunis, and Brian, ok?"

"But… I liked my old school better!"

"Don't be silly! You are great at making friends; so this school shouldn't be a problem for you." Sonic said with an encouraging voice as he held Sarah's hand and they began to walk back to Tails' house.

* * *

At the Prower residence, Tails and Cosmo had just started making breakfast, and people were already beginning to move about. Tails ears perked up when he heard a knocking noise coming from his front door. As he opened the door, his old buddy was standing at the door, his wife and daughter standing behind him.

"May we eat breakfast here? We are kind of pressed on time." Sonic begged.

"Sure, but Sonic, after this, please rely on yourself a bit more, there really is not enough room in this house for three more to feed. But, for today, until you get a house and job to satisfy yourselves, sure, it seems perfectly reasonable." Tails let the trio enter. "Hey Cosmo? Can you help me whip up a few more servings of pancakes? We've got company!" The golden fox called out.

"Sure honey! I'd be glad to!" Cosmo returned to her singing as she cooked.

Sarah wandered into the bathroom. She was a bit messy, and was in a great need to clean herself up. Like her father, she was incapable of swimming, as far as she knew, at least. But, unlike him, she wasn't afraid of a shower. She cast off her emerald green jacket, fit to match her eyes, and stepped into the cold water. After being frozen, standing in the running water, she began to warm up to the cold feel of the liquid running through every strand of hair on her small, blue body. She silently thanked her dad's friend for being a mammal, and having some sort of shampoo for her to use, and then applied it accordingly across her body.

As she was washing herself off, she heard the door open. Sarah peeked her head out of the shower curtain, and saw Brian at the sink, brushing his teeth.

"Get out of here! Can't you hear the shower?" Her eyes flashed red as she barked at him.

"EEK!" Brian shrieked as he ran out of the room with toothpaste in his mount still.

Sarah, after calming down, and getting dried off, began to laugh at that situation.

"I'm not sure…" She thought aloud, "Was Brian shrieking because of my voice? Or because he didn't know that I was there?" She laughed, and stood in front of the mirror to comb and style her hair for school.

Unlike her father, Sarah's hair was rather short, and rather like her mother's. But unlike her mother, her hair didn't fall down like human hair, but was naturally swept backwards like Sonic's. It gave her an odd, tomboyish look, which matched her 'I can do it' personality perfectly.

After shaping her hair perfectly, which didn't really take much time or effort, she stepped out of the bathroom, and walked off to the breakfast table to the taunting aroma of pancakes; the first amount of food she'd had in more than a day.

* * *

As Cosmo picked up the dishes from the rather groggy, uneventful breakfast, the kids sleepily walked outside to the smell of the fresh outdoors.

"Hey Tails? We want to walk to school, is that ok?" Brunis called to his soon to be father-in-law.

"Sure, just stick together. Bye Brunis!" Tails answered.

"And could you take Sarah with you? She is going to go to school today." Sonic added.

"With pleasure Mr. Sonic sir." Brunis bowed in the general direction on Sonic, and Sonic returned the favor with a smile.

Daisy and Sarah walked next to Brian and Brunis slowly. They felt too tired to really get going anywhere.

Beginning to feel bored again, Sarah put her hands behind her head, and sighed.

"This is boring. Where is the school? I want to run ahead." Sarah complained.

"What? You think you'd get there any faster?" Daisy cocked an eyebrow. She had no idea who she was talking to, or exactly how fast the person she just challenged was.

"Um, yeah. Wanna race?" Sarah's face changed from boredom to interest faster than she could run.

"Ok then. Brian, get on Brunis's shoulders, and he will get you to school faster, ok?"

"Ok big sis!" Brian clambered onto the back of his future brother-in-law. Brunis, with Brian secure, began his tank like speed, starting slow, never stopping, and ending fast, in any hopes of beating his fiancé to school, which he knew deep down was never gonig to happen.

"So you really think that you, a little ten year old, can beat me, the queen of the track field, who also happens to be almost six years older than you?" Daisy looked at her competition with an almost mocking attitude.

"Heck yeah." Sarah replied with her father's overconfidence. Daisy was taken aback by Sarah's attitude.

"Then the race goes like this; we start here, and run in the general direction of that grey blob on the horizon. It is the school, standing three stories into the sky, about two miles away. Do you really think you can win?"

"If I cannot, then I should be punished." Sarah cracked her knuckles and brushed the underside of her nose with her index finger, as her father instinctively did before a race or challenge.

"Then we start. On your mark." Daisy set herself up for a track start.

"Get set." Daisy looked at Sarah, who was just standing there, not getting ready.

"GO!" Daisy took off, and left little Sarah in the dust.

Sarah watched as Daisy ran off. Daisy was fast, Sarah noticed that much, but she knew inside that poor Daisy wouldn't be able to stay ahead for more than half of a minute.

Sarah stretched, and then, after sighing, bolted it like only her and her father could do.

Daisy looked behind, satisfied with the fact that Sarah wasn't in seeing range. She calmly looked ahead, and kept her pace, trying to get as much distance between her and Sarah.

Then she noticed something odd. She saw the silhouette of Sarah appear for a brief second in front of her, and then it disappeared. She then felt a faint tap on her shoulder, and looked behind her, only to see nothing.

When she looked forwards, she saw Sarah, keeping up with her, running backwards, smiling and waving at her.

"Why hello Daisy. Still think you can win?" Her smile made Daisy's temper flare.

"Why you little!" Daisy sprinted towards her, and Sarah laughed, turning around, and disappearing beyond the horizon towards the school.

Daisy stumbled into the front doors panting for breath.

"What took you so long?" Sarah smiled menacingly at Daisy.

"Shut it twerp!" Daisy fumed off to her locker.

Sarah smiled at her victory, and watched as the angry flower girl became an erupting volcano in the halls. Sarah could only laugh at Daisy's hopeless pride.

* * *

Sarah wandered through the halls of her new school. She was lost, though her own pride and self-confidence prevented her from admitting it, even to herself.

"Maybe I can pick up my schedule at the office…" She mumbled as she passed by a group of kids.

"Hey cutie!" A random older boy looked down at her as she passed by. "You lost?"

"Absolutely not! And back off sir, this merchandise is not for sale." She declared with a bit of extra sass, and moved on. The boy followed her though.

"I think you are; because you are walking away from me." The kid again looked down at her, trying to act cool.

"Ok, listen here. I am a fourth grader, and you are a what? Ninth grader? I am way too young, and besides, you just aren't my taste." Again Sarah moved in the direction that she thought was that of the main office. But, again the kid blocked her path.

"Shut up girl!" The kid tried to grab her, and Sarah responded justly by kneeing him hard in his groin-area. The kid fell down, writhing in pain. **(A/N: Ding One hit Knock Out!)**

"When I tell you to back off, I mean it." She glared at him for a few more seconds, to assure her status was above his, and then moved on.

She chuckled to herself. _That went quite well._ She thought humorously as she made her way to the main office.

* * *

Minutes later, a sign with the words 'Main Office' appeared in front of her.

She grudgingly made her way into the door, not knowing what to expect.

Inside, a person that looked to be the principal was arguing with a metallic robot.

"No Mr. Xavier! I do not need better security systems! We've got budget problems as it is!" The Principal like figure roared at the robot.

"But sir, I can personally install them. A gift it would be! All I need is the metal and the permission!" The robot pleaded. **(A/N: You wanted XT? You got him.)**

"No Mr. Xavier. Not this time. I didn't give you permission to 'upgrade' our gym, and now no one has seen the inside of it!"

"Not true. I and the students-"

"Important people! Not students!"

"The students make up more than 90 of the population here. They are the true rulers, if you need to know."

"No they aren't! And we don't need a new security system!"

"Yes we do. I cannot save this entire school at one second. People all over the school are being bullied, touched in appropriately, or beaten up. It has to stop!"

"Those are only rumors! Hey little girl, come here." The Principal pointed to Sarah.

The robot also turned in her direction. Upon its eyes meeting Sarah's, it seemed to perk up, as if it knew her or something.

"Me, sir?" Sarah tentatively asked.

"Yes you. Have you ever been touched inappropriately, beat up, or bullied before?"

Sarah sat back in the chair and laughed in hysteria.

"Ok, that is funny, you asking me that, and I just got into this school for my first time."

"Oh, then you couldn't answer well then."

"Actually," the robot's face crept into a grin as she spoke, "I can. In the time it took me to walk from the front door to here, a boy tried to grab me, and was trying, most pathetically if I may add, to flirt with me in order to, no doubt, seduce me as his girlfriend." The Principal's face was stricken with horror. "Furthermore, when he did try to grab me, after having me trying to get out of his way three times, I had to kick him in the forbidden zone to get him to stop."

"I think that answer's you question very well Mr. Principal Sir. Shall I get the security system's materials now?" The robot said mockingly.

"Yes Mr. Xavier… go get the materials." The Principal said in defeat.

"Yippee!" The robot jumped up and fluttered in the air on a set of massive wings. "And, to you Sarah Rose, I don't think we've met yet, have we?" It held out a large metal hand to her. The hand seemed capable of grasping her entire head and smashing it into pieces in one grab.

"How do you know my name?" Sarah asked, shaking the hand carefully.

"I know many things Sarah, I helped you father's friends get married, and their daughter's too." And then mentally added; _and soon I might be working with you…_

"Well, who are you?" Sarah foolishly asked.

"I am Xavier, model number XT-421 of the Rinocian Empire, I am a fully sentient artificial intelligence being on a mission to heal the hearts of creatures throughout existence!" He proudly declared, his voice speaking so fast it was hardly comprehendible.

"That's nice. Um, Mr. Principal, may I have a schedule? I kind of want to get on with my life here…" She barely understood her somewhat rude comment.

"Sure, Sarah… um… what is your last name little missy?"

"Rose sir, Sarah Rose." Her little eyes twinkled innocently at the Principal.

"Ah Sarah. Rose? Are you by chance… No, he's long dead… Never mind. Go on little Sarah, have fun at school."

"With big bad boys like that one poor dude who got kicked by me? Yeah right…" She mumbled as soon as she left his audibility range.

* * *

**(Notice, I fixed the 'Sarah Prower' problem... my mistake, sorry...)**

* * *

**Ok, well, I am right now REALLY angry with myself. The last time I tried to write this (this is after I restarted on the writing...) I got caught up in a Legend of Zelda fanficiton, and I am REALLY afraid that it is gonig to happen again.**

**I don't want any of you to get mad at me, but I may start writing another story, and altogether 'pause' this story (again) to write the other one...**

**If I do that, how angry would you all be? I mean, I would still try to update this story, but it would be VERY VERY slow, (even in comparison to a normal person's story, where they might update once every three days...)**

**I really do want to write this other story locked in my head... but I'm afraid you'll al get VERY mad at me for doing so...**

**Even if,**

**More coming soon...**


	3. The Magical Gym

**My sincerest apologies, but I did start that other story as I mentioned... I will still update what I have on this story (going at a slower pace between each post) in any hopes that I can write up said story faster than hell, and get back to this one. (On a good day, when nothing is happening, and I've got that good vibe, I may be able to crack in well over 60 pages of material within a couple hours... My usual story being about 150-200 pages... so you all may get REALLY lucky, I'll shoot for such feeling...)**

**But, until then, here ya go, another chapter, and introducing... drum roll the 'Magical Gym'. (Yep, Hissara you hae that stuck in my head...)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The first class on Sarah's list was gym, and she was bummed about that.

At her old school, the gym teacher was a bit lazy, and let them goof off. This allowed her to often leave school and play around in the desert, honing her speed, and toning her power.

Now that she was in a new school, one that very well could be stricter, as much as it didn't seem so, and more demanding of her attention.

Not that she wasn't smart, she was well educated. Amy, her mother, had taught her everything that she knew about cooking and health, and Sonic taught her a great deal about anatomy, and how it related to running and fitness. Even if she didn't pay attention all of the time, she still learned it.

And now, as she approached, with the crowd, the large chrome doors, oddly different in comparison to the rest of the school, which was white with unpainted walls, she began to feel a bit worried if this school was really going to be worth her time.

_'Gulp'_

She sighed as she boldly entered the room.

A blast of white florescence temporarily blinded her as she made her entrance. As her sight recovered, she remembered about the principal complaining about the gym, and she couldn't imagine why. It was pretty cool, to her. The walls were rounded, making it one big, huge spherical gym, with all of the corners rubbed off, as if somebody had smoothed them out with a ball. The only thing she really didn't like was the whitish chrome material everything was made out of, it hurt her eyes a bit.

Inside, a large mass of people gathered around near the center of the room.

Sarah followed their gazes to a ball, suspended in the air, with that robot that she had seen in the principal's office, XT-421.

XT-421 was flying in the bubble. His hands were replaced with some kind of alien weapon that looked similar to a machine gun. The barrels of these guns were white hot, and continued to blur around his hands and fire blue bolts of chaotic energy at bulbous, artificial foes as the blobs charged at him.

As each bolt hit its target blob, the bubble that created the blob burst into nothingness within the sphere that XT-421 was in.

After a few more minutes of watching, XT noticed that there was a crowd of students, and the bubble dispersed, however, the guns didn't.

"Greetings class. I am sorry that you had to see that. I need to exercise all of my emotions, to make sure they work properly, that was anger and rage. I use my training programs to solve anger issues and it works well. Ah, Sarah Rose, welcome to my gym class." XT held out his gun arm to her, and it quickly reconfigured into a hand-like shape, and she quickly shook it, eager to try and blend with the crowd, rather than be held out in front of them. **(A/N: XT can get a bit violent at times, and he likes to keep himself in check. Either that or he's made at the principal...)**

"Ok class! Line up for quick attendance!" XT barked cheerily, and everyone did as expected.

_Oh great, he takes this class seriously…_ Sarah thought as she got into the forming line.

Before everyone got into the line, XT was already getting the attendance sheet checked.

"Ok, done. Now, we play." XT clapped his hand sharply, and the room began to change.

The walls physically barely changed. If anything, they became a bit more rounded, but besides that, it was the color that changed the most. The walls, that were once a metallic white, now changed into the scene of outer space. The walls became black, and little formations of stars, planets, and other cosmic anomalies appeared.

It even began to feel a bit cold.

"Now, the game we are going to play is a good one. Again, no one wants me to teach it to you, but it is fun, simple, and short. Maybe you already know the rules. It is Dodgeball; and we are going to be playing it for the rest of the week, to teach you a good game that you can play anywhere." XT reached into the ground, and the metal made small, faint ripples as his arm passed through the solid ground like liquid. As he came up, one of the stars that was in the ground now sat in his hand. The star was a small, round shape; bigger than a softball, but smaller than a watermelon. "Ok, now, the basic idea of dodgeball is that you throw the balls at the opposing team, and if you get hit, you sit out, and if you catch one, a member of your team goes back in, and the one who through it sits out. So, the game will be fast. Very fast. And, to ensure that all of you won't cheat, I've made a system that will be foolproof. You have to do nothing but play. And oh yes, only your hands can catch the ball. Now, as for teams, go ahead, I'll let you pick." XT placed the ball in the center of the space like room.

Sarah had no idea what just happened. XT had broken quite a few laws of physics, from what she could tell; and the fact that she was standing on something that a person had just reached their hand into creeped her out. **(A/N: Maybe it would be creepy, but WOULDN'T THAT BE SO COOL?)**

She took a few hesitative steps to make sure that the floor was safe, and then still proceeded with caution.

"Are the teams set? Good. Now, let the games begin!" XT seemingly vanished, or at least blended into the surrounding environment, and a couple of star balls appeared in the center of the field.

"Grab one! Quickly!" A hawk like kid yelled to the team.

Quickly. Sarah absolutely adored that word.

Sarah ran very fast and collects a vast majority of the balls from the center of the room, and, without missing a step, continued to pass out a great many of them to her team.

"What the heck was that?" Some random kid from the other team yelled.

"The fastest girl alive kid!" Sarah cackled as she stepped into the mid center of her side.

Holding the ball loosely in her left hand, and it was lightweight, making this operation very easy, she curled herself into a ball, and began to take short, quick dives into the ground right behind her. Her body tried to move forward, gaining in speed and power, but not going anywhere because of the backwards motion. As soon as she decided that she had powered up the ball enough, she broke hard, and let the ball fly. **(A/N: In my mind, that is what Sonic does in a spin-dash, Sarah's is the same.)**

The starry ball rocketed with a sonic boom as it flew into a kid on the other side. He flew backwards with the ball, and hit the rounded wall. As he got up, he was gasping for air.

"Fire!" Everyone on Sarah's side simultaneously yelled as a great many bright lights, a meteor shower, in a sense, flew over her head to the other side and impacted a great many kids. Then, the other team returned fire, and Sarah was forced to run.

Sarah laughed as she easily dodged the incoming projectiles. To her, they weren't moving fast enough. She watched as they came towards her, and moved just slightly enough to move out of the way of their paths.

One did come very close to hitting her, however, and it caused her to fall. As she got up, she saw another ball heading in her direction, and she decided to run.

It was now she thanked XT for rounded the sides of the gym, for it made it into one huge flat field to her.

She ran into the wall, and shot straight up it. She felt the gravitational forces made her legs tremble a bit as she rocketed up the wall. Her sights began to flip upside down as her position became the ceiling. A sense of vertigo overcame her, and she struggled to keep running.

Unfortunately, someone on the ground had a good aim, and had noticed Sarah fleeing to the ceiling. He lobbed a ball upwards, and it hurtled towards Sarah's path.

Sarah noticed this ball, but realized that there was little that she could do. Only one thing came into mind that might not get her hurt; and that was jumping from the ceiling, and trying to land on the ground.

As her feet began to lose touch with the ceiling, she began to feel helpless as she began to slow down as she fell.

As if misfortune was stalking her, a ball, gone a bit off course, flew straight at the location that she was going to be in a few seconds.

And, sure enough, the moment she hit the ground, and landed it, she stumbled for a moment, and the ball hit her square in the jaw.

Then, XT's 'foolproof plan' took into play. Sarah felt strange suddenly. A feeling of emptiness coursed through her, and the room began to turn whiter.

She saw a ball fly at her, and she tried to catch it. As the ball passed into her fingertips, it passed through her, and hit somebody behind her.

She screamed in horror at this. It was as if she no longer existed. She watched as her partners caught balls, and other white figures in her vision became corporeal again. Then she looked at herself, and noticed that she was white too, just like all of her fallen teammates. It was if she was a ghost.

Suddenly, she saw a member on the other team fall, a dark blur in her vision. It seemed as if it was the last one. As it turned into a white blob, she blinked, and she was back in the outer space room.

"Game over!" XT called cheerily. "I hope you had fun. Go back to class now."

Sarah watched as the room returned to its metallic chrome colors, and the room reshaped into a boxy gym again. Two doors opened and presented the old, rundown school that this fantastic realm of XT's was connected to. The kids, Sarah included, grudgingly left the gym as XT laughed merrily behind them.

* * *

Amy and Sonic had spent the entire morning looking for house materials, and building materials. They already knew where they wanted their house, in the area of forest next to Tails house, but they lacked the hands and the materials to actually build this home.

The two calmly walked into their most recent target store, and approached the clerk.

"Um sir?" Sonic asked the man.

"Yes… Holy crap! Sonic! It's you! What is Amy doing with you? I thought you were trying to stay away from her!"

"Sir, things change." Sonic looked at his wife with a hint of red in his cheeks. "Can you please help me?"

"Yes, sure, anything you want."

"Ok, I and my wife-"

"Amy is your wife?" The man seemed too shocked to be of much help.

"Sir, please, we are just another married couple out there looking for a place to buy building materials. And plan on living a nice, calm, humble life here. We are looking for building materials-" Amy began.

"Of course Mr. Sonic and miss, I mean, Mrs. Rose, can get anything they want here. We have it all." The man still looked jittery, either because he had to go to the bathroom, or his biggest idol had just asked him a question in real life.

"Well then, we'd like simple 12 by 4 planks of wood, and a lot of them, lots of insulation, and a lot of nails."

"That would for the size of what kind of house?" The man asked.

"About this big." Sonic showed the man a crude, but plausible, diagram for his house.

"Ah, you are going to need a lot indeed; and also a lot of cash as well. The total should add us to just over 19,000." The man's face was unchanged, still smiling at the hero, and the wife of that hero's dreams.

Sonic and Amy, on the other hand, cringed, and their faces became white with pallor.

"Are you serious?" Sonic asked the clerk, as if the person was joking.

"No. Aren't you some kind of superhero? Don't you get paid for doing things how you did?"

"That was fifteen years ago, and besides, I never got paid for them before."

"Then, Sonic, and Amy, I cannot help either of you." The man turned away, and Sonic and Amy left, carrying their heads low.

"Sonic, how are we going to do this? We used to live in an abandoned shed, and we managed to refurbish it, but now..."

"Now we live in a city. Every square inch is being used, and there is nothing left for us o make use of. The way I see it, we have few options. Either A, we live in the forest."

"Which I do not like. I want our daughter to grow up in a normal house, with normal parents."

"As do I, but it is still an option. There is B, we can mooch off of Tails. Which I really do not want to do, seeing as he's got his own problems."

"And then what is C?"

"C is the two of us getting jobs, and seeing if we can make 20,000 dollars in less than a week."

"If only we could… Well, I do have a degree in cooking, perhaps there are a few restaurants around here that I could work at?"

"And I can always go back to being a mailman; that always was nice for me…"

"If only we had a lot of money…" The two said in unison, then, still together, sighed, and walked off, hand in hand, glumly, wishing that having a dream life was as easy as it seemed.

* * *

Dr. Damian was now furious. Not one of his sentry teams had yet given him any information whatsoever on the location of his creature.

"If this keeps up, and I must continue destroying the failures, I will have enough spare metal to build a capturing device…" Damian joked with himself.

"Sir! Sentry-05 reporting, sir!" The mechanical voice was slightly slurred by static.

"All right then. Give me your report." Damian readied the destruct button.

"Subject was last seen heading to this location. Do you wish me to send coordinates?"

"What?" Damian lowered his finger off of the button, and sat up straighter. "I mean, yes; of course. Send them immediately." Numbers and letters began to flash over Damian's main screen as the little sentry uploaded the information that it had collected."

"Download complete sir. Awaiting new orders."

"Come back to base, get yourself cleaned up. You are being promoted to Sentry General." Damian sat back in his chair, and quickly pressed a few buttons on his control panel.

The room, and the lab surrounding it, began to shake and rumble.

"Base descending to -1,500 feet. Moving at stealth speed." The computer spoke to the doctor.

"Good. As much as I would like to capture the demon quickly, I cannot risk getting any attention. As of right now, I am ill-equipped to fight." Damian sorted his thoughts, trying to figure out something to do.

"A suggestion, sir. Perhaps you should upgrade our small army?" The computer offered.

"Take inventory, I will be down in the labs in a few moments. In the mean time, keep on crawling to that location in your memory." Damian barked, moving sluggishly to the labs within his moving base.

"Aye sir."

* * *

Sarah had just got out of math class, and her last class of the day.

"I hate math…" She grumbled as she left the room with bored eyes.

Sarah moved through the halls. School was over, and the various people that made up the student body began to show their faces in the halls. She sighed, knowing that this may lead to another kid coming up and trying to flirt with her.

It wasn't that she didn't like guys; it was more the fact that she didn't like the thought of romantic love all too much. Like her father when he was young, she disliked the thought of having anyone more than a best friend. Besides, any guy that this school had to offer her was more than likely a worthless deal.

And, just her luck, a gang of guys, and even some girls, approached her.

"Yeah, this little cutie would make a great addition to our party." One girl said, completely ignoring the fact that Sarah had ears.

"Yep, hey little girl, wanna join us and have some fun?" A tall, somewhat cute guy asked her.

"No." Sarah realized that she may have used too much sass in her words.

"Ooh, a feisty one!" Another guy said.

"My gosh! What the heck is wrong with you people? Why are cute girls always on your minds? Sick! Leave me alone." Sarah shook her head in disbelief that this was happening again, and pushed past them.

"Oh no you don't." One of the big guys grabbed her miniscule arm, holding her in place.

"Oh no no, oh no YOU don't." Sarah went into her spin dash, and broke the kids arm. The other kids, astounded at Sarah's strength.

"What the heck was that for? We just wanted a party!" One of the girls complained as the other two boys began to charge Sarah.

"Uh-oh! I gotta go!" Sarah bolted out of the room with a new need to run.

The surroundings became very blurred, but Sarah was used to it. In no time, she was clear of the school grounds, and rocketing through the forest.

* * *

XT-421, now off duty from a gym teacher, all of a sudden perked up. His pointy ears straightened, if that was possible, and his eyes narrowed. He slowly tilted his head in Sarah's direction.

"Something weird is happening…" He muttered as he walked out of the gymnasium, and slowly flew off to the Prower residence.

**Don't you hate it how I'm gonig to make you all wait about a week before I tell you what the weird thing is? Or at least, give you the details?**

**Muhohohohohohohoho!**

**More coming (not so) soon...**


	4. The Grey Visitor

**As promised, it has been exactly a week since I last updated. No, I never forgot about my Seed of Love series.**

**Well, I haven't much to say, other than 'The Blessing of Life' is coming along quite nicely, and is taking flight rather fast. I beleive it will be a very short story in comparison to its 41 page predecesor.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

As Sarah ran, she became more and more distracted. She had never been in a forest before, and was very interested in all of the plants that were found within it. Her speed slowed, and she began to stop and literally smell the flowers. And, after she was done with the flower sniffing, she began to wander aimlessly through the forest.

* * *

Dr. Damian's creature had just flown over the forest by the Prower residence.

With no energy beams being launched at it, and no little sentries chasing it, and with absolutely nothing in his digestive system to keep him running, the creature fell to the ground out of the sky.

The rustling of leaves, and the thud of the dirt, it impacted solid ground again. Its wings retracted into its flesh, and its skin returned to a grayish color.

* * *

Sarah had heard a very loud noise echo throughout the forest, and she felt a compelling duty to investigate it.

As she stumbled around the forest, she eventually tripped on a lump of hard material.

After removing some dirt from her mouth, she looked back to examine the thing she tripped on.

It was a grey figure. It looked like a hedgehog boy, about just under her age, but he has grayish skin that felt rubbery, not furry, to the touch, and he looked very malnourished.

"How the heck did you get here kid?" Sarah looked at the child, maybe a year or two younger than her, but he still looked terrible either way.

Sarah checked for his vitals, another thing that she picked up from her father's teachings, to find that the kid was still alive.

"But still, how?" Sarah asked him, as if he would answer. To her dismay, she couldn't find anything that could have gotten the kid from the sky to the ground. There was no hint of aircraft debris, and the kid didn't have wings.

"Well, I can't leave you here…" Sarah felt obligated to the kid, to get him to safety at least; and maybe feed him too.

She hoisted the kid up onto her scrawny arms, not an easy task for her, seeing as she had small, weak arms, and ran off to Tails house, carrying her grey patient quickly.

* * *

Brunis, Brian, and Daisy had just arrived home after searching for Sarah at school.

"I swear, she wasn't anywhere to be found!" Daisy told her mother.

"Sonic is going to have a fit." Cosmo muttered, looking down at the ground.

"I need help! I need help! I need help!" A faint voice from the forest was yelling.

Brunis instinctively ran to the sound, and saw a quick little blur of light blue and a hint of grey.

The blur came fast to the house, and in no time, a small, panicky Sarah arrived with an odd creature in her arms that looked like a hedgehog.

"I found this kid in the forest, after hearing a big thud. I think he may be hurt, is there anything that you can do for him?" Sarah offered the limp body of the boy up to Brunis.

Brunis hefted the child and ran him inside their house.

"Tails! Where is that stuff you fed me? That milk stuff! There is someone here who needs it!" Brunis set the grey kid on the table, and Tails appeared in the kitchen with a bottle of the medicine that so far seemed to heal people from death.

"Sarah, open his mouth for me," Tails was readying the small baby bottle with the mixture in it.

Sarah did so unquestioningly. It seemed odd though, when she pried open the kids mouth, it didn't look very normal. It was as if his insides were shutting down, and becoming rubbery, almost like silly-putty. It also didn't smell very good; the vapors smelled like army food gone bad, mixed in with five years of cavities, and maybe a dash of laboratory acids. The stench burnt Sarah's sensitive nose and made her cringe.

Tails administered the mixture, and shut the boy's mouth over the bottle. Sarah watched as the fluids in the bottle slowly drained, and the kid began to breathe strongly again.

Everyone in the room sighed in relief.

Cosmo walked in with a few grocery bags, and nearly dropped them as she saw the kid lying on her table.

"What is that?" Cosmo gasped, picking up the bags that she dropped.

"I don't know who he is, but Sarah found him." Tails said, resting against the wall.

"Wait, Sarah found him? In that the forest backyards?" Cosmo asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Tails, I'd like to speak with you in private." Cosmo, without permission or answer, grabbed Tails arm, and pulled him into their bedroom.

Once safe from spying ears, Cosmo turned to face Tails.

"Ok, why, Cosmo, did you pull me away from there?"

"What happened the last time a young girl found a young boy in that forest? And the boy was all alone, helpless, and you had to use that altered milk?" Tails eyes grew wide at the possibility.

"No way. Sarah? She is just like her father! She can't fall in love that easily. Heck, I can't believe Sonic even fell in love with Amy. I mean, I knew they both liked each together a bit, but not enough to leave, and come back with a child and married."

"You know what I think?" A smirk crept onto Cosmo's face.

"What?" Tails cocked an eyebrow at his wife.

"I think we should play as XT-421 for a small bit…"

"How so?" A smirk found its way to Tails mouth too.

"We could both not let that kid stay here, save more money, and make Sarah take care of him. That way, she will develop a bond with him, and we don't have to feed another mouth."

"I hate having to make Sonic take care of him though; he's got loads of financial problems, more than we ever could. I agree. This kid shall go to Sonic, but we are going to help them, at least until they get their own lives here set up."

"Ok…" Cosmo said nearly drearily.

"Cosmo? Since when do you become a self-centered being?"

"It's not that I'm being self-centered, or, maybe it is…" Cosmo went silent for a few moments to sort her thoughts. "Maybe I'm just stressed out about saving enough money for Daisy's wedding. That has to happen soon you know; and I do not think that XT-421 will be running the wedding there. I think he wants us to be responsible parents and help our daughter organize her own wedding."

"That you are correct." A familiar robotic voice called as XT-421 emerged from the dark confines of their closet. **(A/N: XT pwns.)**

"XT! Where-how-when-why are you in our closet?" Tails nearly fell backwards in surprise.

"What? You've known me for what, fifteen years, and you haven't found out that I come and go as I please?" XT leaned onto the wall with his arms folded coolly.

"That is true."

"And you are right. No, I will not be able to help you with the wedding. Nor, personally, do I believe that I will be helping Sarah and this, what did you call him, kid, get together. I know where this thing came from, and personally, I am concerned. I would like to see the two together, but first that thing must pass a few tests."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Tails furrowed his brow towards XT.

"I'm just an old babbly robot, pay no never mind to me."

"Right. So wait, what is this kid exactly?"

"After he gets better, why not ask him?"XT walked out of the room, and headed toward the child.

XT put his cold, metallic hand on his chest, and his eyes began to flicker as information poured through his circuits.

"Ah, you have had a horrible life…" XT's eyes closed. "Pain, torture, suffering… I hear you wailing… it isn't good. The sounds, the cries, your past is terribly misunderstood. I see you now, a brighter future. Do you see it too? Yes, claw your way to her. My mother, your savior, she can lead you out. Come on little friend, no longer pout. The time has come, for us to see, exactly what you shall be." XT opened his eyes, and walked away.

"What was that all about?" Sarah asked, her eyes shifting from her gym teacher to her patient.

"Sarah, this boy… he is very fragile right now. He is going to need someone to look up to, someone bold, brave, and strong. You are those three things. I want you to look after him, do you understand?"

"No, not really." Sarah took a few steps back.

"Well, it isn't all too hard to understand. I want you to be this kid's friend, and I want you to help him live in this new world?"

"Wait; is he an alien or something?"

"With the amount of differences, he might as well be… but, you understand now?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now, I'll be back at school if you need me." XT walked outside and added, "Or will I?" He laughed as he bolted off to a place where no one could find him.

* * *

Sonic and Amy approached the Prowers' home with a bit of uncertainty.

Before they could knock on the door, XT-421 flew out of their house laughing.

"Ok… Um… Tails?" Sonic called to his kitsune friend.

"Yes Sonic?" Tails' face appeared in the opening of the door left by XT.

"W-we need some help." Sonic looked at his daughter Sarah, sitting over the body of a grey, hedgehog-like boy, and added to his statement. "And, in private?"

"I understand, follow me." Tails led Sonic and Amy into his bedroom, where Cosmo was still standing from XT's talk.

"Ok," Sonic started after he shut the door. "Amy and I do not have anything. We just got our jobs back, they start in the morning tomorrow, but we haven't anything to buy food, or to build a house, yet. So, I really do not want to have to mooch off of my genius friend, but it is either that, or sleep in that forest again."

"Hmm… Cosmo and I were just thinking about this matter with the three, maybe four, of you, and exactly what we were going to do about it."

"Wait," Amy butted in, "what do you mean, _four_?"

"That gray hedgehog kid may be staying with you." Cosmo answered.

"Why?" Sonic and Amy both asked in unison.

"Well, Cosmo and I have my secrets, but, as an excuse," he mused, "XT told Sarah to be that kid's guardian. And she accepted."

"Ok, fine. But you are going to help us then." Amy demanded.

"We already agreed on it. The deal was this, if you get the gray hedgehog, we will help you get a house, and money to get it started, but if we got stuck with the hedgehog kid, then you wouldn't get help."

"It looks as if we are getting this hedgehog kid then, doesn't it Amy?" Sonic looked expectantly towards his wife.

"Yes. It seems as if we have no choice." Amy muttered.

* * *

In the mind of the kid, who was now being laid down onto a guest bed in the Prower residence, a very realistic dream was occurring.

The kid was in a stasis tube, green liquid wreathed around him. All of a sudden, a bright light blinded him, and a melodic hum of a female's voice echoed in the room.

He fell out of the tube, and became stricken with fear as he saw the angelic figure approach him. It was a girl, who looked like a hedgehog just a bit older than him, but she was surrounded in a bright, golden light. Warmth and comfort seemed to pour from her grooves in her hair, and the kid sat back against the wall in fear of who this girl was.

How he knew it was a girl, he didn't know; he barely knew anything. He was never taught how to speak. He was created, so he had no parents to even teach him how to walk correctly. Everything he knew was picked up from the lab and his own tests.

But this figure didn't seem like everything else he knew, she didn't seem like she wanted to hurt him, as odd as the thought sounded to him.

"Hello, what's your name?" The bright figured asked him.

The kid tried to talk back, but nothing but unintelligible sounds came from his voice.

"Is that how you talk to a lady? Humph!" Then the figure laughed. "Oh, that's right, I guess you do not know how to speak yet. After all, you were tortured in that terrible room for all of those years." The kid tilted his head, and tried to comprehend what the woman said.

"Ok, I am going to help you speak! I," The figure held her hand to her chest, and patted it, "am Celeste. I am Celeste." She repeated herself a few times, and the pointed to the kid.

"Celeste." He said, pointing to himself.

"No no no no no. You are… who are you? Let us come up with a name for you. How about, Stephen? You," Celeste walked up to the boy, and pointed directly at his chest, her finger coming inches from his heart, "are Stephen. You are Stephen."

Stephen pointed to himself, and scrunched his eyebrow.

"Stephen?" He said, not sure of himself.

"Yes." Celeste nodded her head warmly, "Stephen. You are Stephen. Who am I?" She pointed to herself.

"Celeste." Stephen said calmly.

"Very good." Celeste patted him on the back, and Stephen felt as if he were being electrocuted by an influx of emotions.

Fear, joy, happiness, warmth, love, caring, tenderness, all were felt through those few seconds of patting, and Stephen passed out from the shocked.

In this dream, all went dark, and the figure who addressed herself as Celeste vanished from feeling and touch and sight.

**But was it a dream?**

**Now, to any of those who know me a bit more personally, Stephen is a philosopher, and the other philosopher in real life I know, my dearest friend, helped in his naming. (Stephanie, yes, I've told you before, Stephen is inspired by you. And not by stupidity, because you probably outsmart me in a great deal. And Steff, if you're listening, you may want to quote that...)**

**Now, where was I?**

**Oh yes... (one more week everyone...)**

**More comnig (not so) soon...**


	5. Learning

**Technically, midnight is the next day...**

**Well another chapter! I'm sure you're all very happy about that. (At the rate I am writing The Blessing of Life, it is very possible that you may never know I left this... I'm getting to the climax in that one, and it is going to end up fairly short for me, but still, that's all good for you guys.)**

**Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

It was now late, and Brunis and Daisy had just gotten back with a very large load of wood. Daisy looked sleepy, and Brunis noticed this.

"Hey Daisy?" Brunis dropped his wood at the side of their home.

"Yeah?" Daisy looked as if she were about to pass out.

"Come here my darling." Brunis picked Daisy up bridal style, and carried her off to bed, Daisy seemed to love it, even though she was being manhandled, it was after all, her man.

"There you go Daisy, sleep well." Brunis set his fiancé in her bed, and tucked the covers in around her.

"Come here you big fur ball!" Daisy wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him in for a long kiss, Brunis, of course, couldn't deny her that.

The only reason the broke this kiss was because Daisy had fallen asleep, and her arm fell limply down onto her.

"Sweet dreams my beautiful…" Brunis's eyes looked a bit blazed over, but he was still wide awake.

He wandered into Tails' garage, and pulled out a few of the power tools, some, which were usually more unique than others, Tails liked to call 'Prower-tools', seeing as he was one of the only people that knew what they did; save only a few known by Brunis. **(A/N: I'm surprised fewer people haven't come up with that one yet... 'Prower Tools' lol...)**

After the tools were gathered, and the materials set out, Brunis went to work. He was almost as efficient at building houses as XT-421 was at relationships. Whistling as he sped through the process, the Rose residence was slowly taking form next to the Prowers' home, but a bit closer to the forest.

* * *

Sarah slept uneasily. She sat next to the gray hedgehog, but she barely was asleep. Instead, she listened to the erratic pattern of the kid's breathing, and became a bit worried. She turned over to him, and checked to see if everything was ok; it was, but it didn't sound that way.

"What are you?" Sarah wondered aloud. "You look like a hedgehog, but you have no hedgehog fur. Instead, your skin is rubbery." Sarah played with the kids arm, tugging gently at his elastic skin, giggling a bit about how it felt. The kid, in response to his skin being touched, turned over on his side, away from Sarah and her tugging. She couldn't help but smile at this funny kid.

"Well, sweet dreams, weirdo." She chuckled as she began to drowse off, questions raging in her mind about this creature.

* * *

Sonic and Amy slept on the couch, very tired from their day of work. Sonic sat drowsily on the couch, his eyes barely open, even as he slept. Amy lay, cuddled into a semi spherical shape, on Sonic's lap. The two breathed in synchronization, and slept happily and peacefully, in calmness before their stressful jobs began again.

* * *

As dawn's fingers crept into the sky, and the world began to be filled with light once more, Brunis looked at his master piece.

A large, three bedroom house with framework for two bathrooms, one for the master, one for the guest, a kitchen, not yet decorated but the pipes were set up, a storage room, a living room, and a pantry. It was small, but it was just what the Rose's needed.

All he needed to do was to get a few toilets, a few sinks, kitchen supplies, bedding, seeing as he already made three beds with the spare wood, and lighting. Other than that, the house was complete.

He rushed off to the stores in town with his wallet close at hand, ready to buy the needed equipment.

Shortly after, he returned with a wagon load of the materials, and set off to work, again.

By the time noises began to be heard from within the Prower residence, just barely within hearing range, he was done. And he had even decorated the inside of the house with objects that could be returned or traded for others.

"That ought to do it." Brunis dusted off his paws, and wandered off back to his home.

* * *

Sonic woke when the door opened.

"Hey, Mr. Sonic. Your house is done." Brunis said in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Wh-what? Why are you… oh. Ok. Wait… Thank you Brunis. Let me see it, please."

"After you, of course." Brunis held open the door in a gentleman like way.

Sonic's mouth began to drop with each step he took to his new home.

"It's awesome! You built this overnight?" Sonic was in total disbelief.

Brunis cracked his knuckles and leaned back in midair.

"Why, yes, I did." He couldn't help but gloat a bit.

"Come on, you are showing me the inside." Sonic took Brunis's hand, and brought him inside.

"I think that you will find everything in order. It may not be perfectly what you imagined, but I think it will suffice to live in until you make your own adjustments."

"Brunis, this is incredible. You know, you should really look into the architectural business, you'd make a fortune."

"Really? Oh… I feel… tired…" Brunis staggered off, very tired, to his fiancé's room, leaving Sonic to gawk at his house a bit longer before coming back into his friend's home.

* * *

Sonic wandered into the house, and gently massaged the back of his wife Amy. She slowly regained her motor skills, and opened her eyes.

"My Sonikku…" Amy purred. Sonic only responded with a smile.

"Amy, you should see that house that Brunis made. It is incredible. All in one night, it is beyond belief."

"What? He actually did it?" Amy sprung out of her seat. "Show me!" She demanded, as Sonic too her by the hand and rushed her off to the house.

* * *

Sarah woke up to the sound of commotion in the morning. It seemed as if everyone was up a bit earlier that day, and she was too eager to unveil the secrets of this gray hedgehog sitting next to her to sleep.

"Hey. Hey you. Can you hear me?" Sarah tapped the hedgehog's chest lightly.

At first, the hedgehog moved slowly, as if to shake off the feeling of tapping, but then, as he became more awake, he jumped off the bed, and leaned back against the corner, obviously feeling trapped.

Sarah screamed as the hedgehog made his way to the corner. And screamed even more when she saw his storm gray eyes stare into her soul. She held out her hands calmly, and up in surrender, and slowly approached him.

"It's ok, I don't want to hurt you." Sarah walked in the hedgehog's direction. A look of extreme terror filled his eyes. As her hand came too close to him, he tried to back up into the wall even more, and his skin seemed to melt around it.

"Eiieya!" He screamed unintelligibly, obviously afraid of her hand.

"It's ok; I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want to see what you are." Her hand touched a slightly brighter mark on the skin above his heart, and he looked up and gasped.

"Celeste." He said calmly to the Sarah.

* * *

"Celeste." He said. This girl looked identical to the golden figure who called herself Celeste, who had also so happened to have touched him in that exact spot in his dream.

It had to be her.

* * *

"Who is Celeste?"

"You. Celeste." Even at this assumption, the kid backed into the wall.

"Me?" Sarah pointed to herself. "I am Sarah. Sarah Rose."

"Sarah Rose? Celeste?" The kid looked very confused.

"No, I am Sarah Rose. No Celeste. Who are you?" Sarah pointed to the kid's chest, in an area that his Celeste pointed at when she asked the same question.

"Stephen."

"Oh, so you are Stephen?" Sarah used hand signals to help her talk, "that is a very nice name. Come here." Sarah offered her hand out to Stephen, who fearfully took it.

"I need to show you some people." Sarah said as she pulled her new friend out of the safety of the room, and into the terror filled vastness of the world.

* * *

As Sonic and Amy came from inspecting their new house, they found the Prower residence in a bit of commotion.

"Eiieya!" A voice from within shrieked.

"Uh oh, something's not right." Sonic said as he gripped Amy's hand a bit tighter.

The two stepped inside to assess the problem.

The grey hedgehog, was awake, and was having spasms of fear and fright.

"Sarah! Get away from him!" Sonic roared, running over to his daughter and the kid.

As Sonic approached, the kid seemed to melt into the ground and began sobbing.

"Dad, he is very afraid right now. Please stop coming so close." The little kid shook violently at Sarah's feet in fear.

"Ok…" Sonic took a few steps backwards into the small crowd surrounding the kid.

"Hey, Stephen, it's all right. They won't hurt you either." Upon the sound of her calm voice, Stephen began to uncurl from his ball like shape, and stood up. His feet and legs, however, were still shaking. "Stephen, say hello to them. This is my family, and my family's friends."

"H-hi." Stephen imitated.

"Oh, he can talk." Tails sighed with relief, "Stephen," Stephen looked blankly at Tails, "how did you get here?"

"How did you get here?" Stephen said in a similar voice.

"Stephen, answer the question. How did you get here? Who brought you to our forest?"

"Forest? Here? Who? How? You! Our! Brought!" Stephen proudly spoke the words as if he knew what he was talking about.

"Oh, I see, he cannot speak, he just imitates. Well, Stephen, what do you know?"

"Celeste!" Stephen cheered, tilting his head a bit on its side.

"Wait, Celeste? Didn't XT know a Celeste?" Tails asked the group.

"Celeste!" Stephen pointed at Sarah.

"My dear child," A mechanical voice uttered from the window, "Where did you see Celeste?"

"Celeste! Celeste!" Stephen again pointed at Sarah and the voice laughed as XT-421 entered the room.

"You think that she is comparable to Celeste? Aw! How cute!" Everyone looked confused. "Ok," XT whispered into the ears of the adults and the fiancés, "Celeste is similar to a goddess, in a sense; she is one of the many transentient beings out there. She is described as being capable of looking like the most beautiful thing that you will ever see. Though, it changes with each person."

"So that's why she looked like Daisy to me…" Brunis mumbled, and Daisy giggled.

"Yes, that is perfectly reasonable. And, now, Stephen saw Celeste, and he thinks that Sarah is her, because of the similarity. That doesn't necessarily mean that he is in love with her; instead, it just means that the two are going to have to have a strong bond with one another, else Celeste wouldn't have intervened."

"So, it is already set out for them?" Sonic asked quietly.

"Yes, and no. It is just very highly likely. And, with me by its side, I can make everything happen." XT stepped back a bit, and spoke loudly. "Now, I do not care about the commotion, I want everyone in this house, either at work, or at school, right now!"

"Yes sir!" Brunis reported diligently, ignoring all hints of tire and sleepiness.

"Move it! Stephen, Sarah, you two are a special case. Hop on my back."

"Why?" Sarah asked.

"Because I said so." XT grabbed Stephen and obscured his vision from the view of flying, which would have undoubtedly horrified him.

Sarah on the other hand, loved the flight to school. She had never flown before, and to do so with the wind in her face was exhilarating.

* * *

XT set the two down the moment he landed.

"Sarah, come with me for a moment." XT offered his hand to her, and took Stephen's.

"Where are we going?" Sarah pestered.

"I'm going to teach Stephen everything, and you are going to help a little bit. Please follow me." XT led Sarah and Stephen into the gym.

Stephen's eyes were constantly filled with fear and wonder. He had never seen a house before, or, for that matter, people, plants, buildings, or lights or anything other than his cell. The world was huge, and he had just barely gotten to know it.

As they entered the dimly lit gym, the colors began to flare back to life; the white chrome replenished itself, the lights began to flicker brighter, and the floor around XT again began to seem like water.

"Ok Stephen," XT sat down in front of him, and gestured for the other two to do the same. "I'm going to teach you everything. But first, you must learn to talk."

"Talk! Everything! Learn!" He cheerily stated. XT pulled an apple shaped object from the ground, and his eyes began to glow on it so that it formed a bright red color.

"Stephen. This is an apple." XT explained, showing the apple look alike to Stephen.

"Apple…" Stephen muttered.

"And this," XT pulled out a book from the floor, "is a book."

"Book." Stephen smiled.

XT gave the apple to Sarah.

"What is that Stephen?" XT pointed to Sarah's apple.

"Sarah! Apple!" Stephen cheered excitedly.

"Yes. Sarah and an apple." XT took the apple, and pointed to the book. "Is this an apple?" XT still pointed at the book.

"Book."

"Right. This is a book, not an apple."

"Not apple." Stephen seemed to be deep in thought. XT pointed to Sarah.

"That is an apple."

"No apple. Sarah."

"Good job Stephen."

"XT, why are we doing this?" Sarah groaned.

"Stephen does not know yes and no. Before anything, he must learn this. If you want, go ahead and show him the movements for yes and no." XT offered.

"Ok, Stephen." Stephen looked expectantly of her. "This is yes." Sarah nodded, "And this," she shook her head 'no' "is no."

"Yes." Stephen bobbed his head in an imitative way.

"And?"

"No." Stephen shook his head left and right.

"Very good." XT clapped. "Again, Stephen, is this an apple?" XT pointed to the book. Stephen only shook his head this time.

"Wow… He learns fast." Sarah admired.

"Yes, and that is why I am going to have him spend the entire day following you around. Hopefully, he will learn a lot. Oh yes, Stephen." Stephen looked at XT now. "What is that?" XT pointed at a random ball that formed nearby.

"That?"

"Yes. What is that?"

"Uh…." Stephen began to lose himself in thought.

"Well?"

"What is that?" Stephen asked.

"That is a ball." XT said as another thing formed behind him.

"What is that?" Stephen asked again.

"Very good… that is a cube." Another thing formed.

"What is that?" Stephen seemed to be getting the idea XT wanted to teach.

"That is a pyramid. Stephen, go with Sarah. You are done." **(A/N: Very lengthy? I thought so too... I wanted to go more in depth when I wrote this too... lol... thank the lord I didn't...)**

"Done? What is that?" Stephen smiled.

"That is when you have nothing more to do."

"What is that?"

"Goodbye Stephen." XT's small, digital pupil rolled within the pads of lights that were his eyes.

"Goodbye!" Stephen called.

"Goodbye." XT waved, and Stephen mimicked with a wide grin on his face.

"Come on Stephen, I want to show you around school."

"School? What's that?"

"The place where are in."

"What's that?" XT smiled maliciously as he realized what kind of torture he just brought upon Sarah.

"He learns so fast though… he is sure to be of importance later…"

Sarah held Stephen's hand tightly as she began to show him all of the things within a school.

**Ok, now, one more week, and I shall update again. Hopefully, I can get 'The Blessing of Life' done before school starts so I can start focusing on this in school. (For all non-robots who must works for 4.0 GPA, please, do not follow in my footsteps in school. I am really bad at work habits... but I always get it done with my robotic mind.)**

**More coming 'not' so soon...**


	6. Intensive Care

**Omg, I completely forgot, please, before you start throwing knives at my name (bad humor, I know, and not humor for some of you...) please, read the next update knowing I am terribly sorry.**

**But, on a lighter note, the plot starts to take flight in this chapter, that's a bit of good news I guess...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Richard the Cat sat on his stretcher in his parent's private hospital. He had spent the last two days in 'intensive care' even though his injuries were minor, in comparison to what his assailant was going to do to him, at least.

He was the son of the richest couple, no, richest people, in the world. His parents together literally owned half of the money in the world, and they didn't share it.

And, with this money, the two people who Richard called 'mom' and 'dad' created a monster, him. Possibly the most spoiled child ever to be born, Richard lived a life of privilege. He never cared about money, and his parents bought him anything he wanted. Unfortunately, that was the very thing that cause Richard to end up in the hospital.

As the spoiled rich boy hit puberty, less and less did he want toys, well, at least the plastic, and sometimes metal, things that his parents always used to buy to keep him from whining. Instead, he wanted a different kind of toy. He wanted Daisy Prower. She knew from his constant following and taunts that 'she was going to be his queen' that he liked her, and he never bothered to hide it. But, about a week ago, his supplier gave him a new kind of toy to use, a mind controlling device. He had used this on Daisy, and he almost got what he wanted, had it not been for the darn wolf Brunis. Out of nowhere, Daisy's ex-boyfriend, who she still cared deeply for, and was constantly yearning for, returned, just before Richard had a chance to use Daisy as the toy he wanted her as, leaving a scar on his perfect face.

And, as the days went on, Richard, using his mind controlling device, tried, and failed, to win Daisy's heart over. The last day he was at school, a few days ago, he decided to just ignore Brunis completely, seeing as he and Daisy were all alone another in a reality, imagined by his gym teacher, that infernal robot XT-421, with no one else around. He tried to force himself on her, and almost succeeded, but again, Brunis attacked him, leaving yet another scar on his almost perfect face.

Foolishly, after that, he placed a difficult command of the mind controlling device, and tried to get Daisy to forget everything she knew, thinking that if he couldn't have all of Daisy, at least he could have her body. As he did this, he came up to her, and Brunis was with her, utterly confused as to what had just happened, and he told him exactly what he did to gloat. A bad mistake.

Brunis had nearly killed him, and would have had Daisy's mental life not have been in danger. Brunis had broken a couple of Richard's limbs, bloodied much of his torso and face, and probably broke his right arm.

And then he left, without paying for any of it.

After that, XT seemed angry at Richard, the poor cat who just got attacked by a savage wolf, for both trying to sexually assault one of his students, and making a mess in his gym.

After muttering how he had to clean up the blood, he dragged Richard out of the room and flew him to his parent's house.

To say the least, Richard now hated XT, because he didn't lie in Richard's favor. Instead, he made it sound like he was the villain, in front of his own parents too. They were appalled at what happened, or seemed to be, but XT saw through their faces, and somehow knew that they weren't going to punish him at all.

Now, he was forced to stay in bed until he was better to leave, and even then, his 'Royal Guard' the he had with him every day, was now reduced to one man.

At least he got to pick who that one man was, and he chose Charles, his favorite of all of them. Charles was always silent, always obedient, and never questioned Richard's judgment, even when it was obviously wrong or against morals; which he broke often to get what he wanted.

"Charles! Come here, and get my laptop! We are going to do some more research!"

In a flash, Charles appeared with a computer, perfectly fit to be attached to the stretcher that Richard was on.

Richard loved this computer of his. It had been modified to work under voice command, and tailored only to his voice. A few other features it had were 'touch screen', 'extended battery life' and 'able to read for you'. It was a spoiled computer, for a spoiled boy.

Charles placed the computer on Richard's bed, hovering just above his legs, and then lifted Richard's back with the stretcher's recliner to be upright.

"Now, hello Tom." Richard spoke to the machine.

"Hello Richard. Where to today?" It responded melodically.

"Find all files on the robot 'XT-421'."

"Subject does not exist." **(A/N: Grins)**

"You're lying, he is my gym teacher."

"I cannot lie. Subject 'XT-421' does not exist anywhere."

"Pull up all of the staff files on my school."

"Complying."

Richard sifted through all of the staff, and was shocked to hear and see that he didn't even have a gym class. **(A/N: Insert creepy organ music here)**

"Pull up the schedules of myself, Daisy Prower, and Brunis the Wolf."

Tom instantly did so, and Richard was againt shocked to see that he did have a gym class there.

"Where is the gym teacher?"

"There is none."

"Then how is there a gym class?"

"There isn't."

"Then why do I have gym?"

"Because you are instructed to have a gym class."

"But there isn't a gym class!"

"Correct."

"GRRRRAGGHH!" **(A/N: XT cannot exist, so, the files concerning him have been properly tampered with, and are only partially true.)**

Tom said nothing.

"Pull up satellite image of the school from five days ago."

Richard looked carefully at the school, and waited for his 'non-existent gym teacher' to arrive.

Sure enough, a small, winged object flew in, right as school started.

"Rewind and watch that object closely."

"Aye aye sir."

Richard watched as the winged creature flew backwards at a blinding speed and ended up in a small hut near the ocean.

"Where is that?"

"Zooming out."

The hut that XT was at was on the other edge of the forest.

"How far away is that from Daisy's house?"

"Exactly 10 miles."

"How far is it from the school?"

"Exactly 10 miles."

"How far is that from town?"

"Exactly 10 miles."

"Wait, that's not possible. From the ocean, and any point on the ocean, it is over 13 miles to get to town."

"I know."

"THEN HOW IS HIS HOUSE 10 MILES FROM IT?"

"That is the measured distance."

"How far is it from Malavar to his house?" Malavar was the nearest continent, over 4,000 miles away."

"Exactly 10 miles."

"HOW?"

"That is what the readouts say."

"NOT POSSIBLE!"

"But that is what it said." Tom was inhumanly calm about it all.

"Fine, fast forward, where did he go after school that day?"

Richard saw that XT was quite the traveler, the whole time, while he was messing around with Daisy, he was in the same forest, spying on them. And then, he had somehow beat Brunis, Daisy, and Richard himself, to the tree house.

"Who is this guy?"

"What 'guy' sir?"

"Never mind… just, exit everything on XT-421. I'm getting nowhere with this guy…"

"Yes sir."

"What happened to Daisy after school on my last day there?" Richard knew he would regret this terribly.

"Accessing…"

A file came up on Daisy, Richard watched as Brunis selflessly ran her home to her father's, and skipped ahead until she was back awake.

Relieved that he hadn't killed her, and may still have at her, he watched on. He watched as Daisy ran into her tree house, and waited for Brunis. He waited for her to come out. And waited, and waited, and waited. A wave of panic came across him. He watched as the sun fell, and all was dark. He still waited, and waited. He skipped back, making sure that he hadn't missed her leave, only to become more panicky and more fearful. Then they left, in the morning, to go to school, skipping the whole way there. **(A/N: What could two lovers in s treehouse be doing all night long? Hmm... sarcastically)**

Anger, and malicious hatred filled the place of fear and panic, and Richard glared at Brunis through the screen.

"He took her virginity… That perverted wolf! Just watch! I'll have Daisy! She belongs to me! You hear me Brunis? DAISY IS MINE!" Richard punched the wolf on the computer, only to shatter the glass, and make his fist bloody.

"OW! Can someone get my hand bandaged up?" Richard looked at the frozen, broken image of Brunis and Daisy skipping to school from an overhead view, and sighed, "And a new computer too?"

Sure enough, within a few minutes, the new computer, his spare, that didn't have a voice activation or any of the cool gadgets his other ones had, was given to him, and a nurse bandaged his hand up as well.

"Charles, seeing as I damaged my hand, can you get a link with my supplier for me?"

Charles nodded deeply, and hit a few buttons on the laptop.

Within a few seconds of typing he backed off, and the face of a youthful, if a bit pudgy, man, with balding hair, and a long, frizzy moustache appeared.

"Richard my boy, how are you doing, did my Neural Influencer do its job?"

"No." Richard growled.

"What's with the face?"

"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY FACE OLD MAN!"

"I'm only in my twenties."

"Shut. Up. Now, I demand my money back." Richard had spent a fortune, for an average person that is, on the Neural Influencer, and it had not done what he wanted it to.

"But it did do its job, right?"

"Not perfectly, something prevented its full extent."

"Ah, well that's too bad. Nothing I can do really."

"You can give me my money back." Richard snapped.

"Now now boy, how about a deal?"

"What now Dr. Damian?"** (A/N: Wait, Dr. Damian Robotnik supplied the Neural Influencer to Richard? HE'S TO BLAME? Strange how my world oddly fits together...)**

"I have in my shops, a potion."

"A potion? I though you did machinery?"

"Science goes beyond mechanics child."

"Oh."

"And this potion is assured to attracted people of the opposite gender."

"Does it work across species?"

"Of course, any female in your vicinity will flock to you. So far, every test I've conducted has worked."

"On yourself?"

"Yes." **(A/N: Ok, try to imagine Eggman with a ton of girls, both attractive and unattractive, surrounding him... 0.0)**

"Then I'm sure it will work for me." Richard grinned, if this unattractively fat doctor could make people fall in love with him, people would die for his own catty charms. The doctor didn't look as happy.

"Yeah yeah, shut up. But, are you interested?"

"Yes. But what is that deal?"

"This potion is my money back to you."

"Ah, then it better work you fool, or I will be very angry at you."

"Oh it will."

"When are you sending it? When will it be here?"

"T-10." Damian chuckled through the monitor.

Annoyed, Richard began to countdown very fast, as if his intent was to mess the madman up. If that was his goal, he failed.

A little floating robot with Damian's unforgettable face plastered on the side of it, entered the room, and handed a small bottle of a clear substance to a baffled Richard.

"How do you do that?"

"I'm the world's greatest inventor after all."

"I thought Daisy's dad was…"

"Who is Daisy?"

"The girl who I tried to capture."

"Yes, I figured that, but who is the girl's father?"

"Tails. Miles 'Tails' Prower." The madman went berserk.

"WHAT! YOU ARE TRYING TO STEAL TAILS' DAUGHTER? Ooh, evil pans concocting… well, tell me how that works… Muhohohohohohoho." The screen went blank.

"Weird… Well, hmm… how does this work?"

The cat single-handedly fiddled around with it until he could read the directions.

"_Apply only when wet, apply to whole body, watch as opposite gender flocks to you and sees you as a pagan god of beauty. Note: Effects will wear off in exactly 24 hours of usage, waterproof up to 100 feet._"

"Seems simple enough… now, where to put it to use?"

Richard thought hard, and looked at the bottle. Liquid. Then he reread the instructions. Waterproof.

"Perhaps I'll hold a pool party…" Richard smiled evilly.

"MOM! DAD! Can I go to school tomorrow?" He yelled into the speakers.

A servant answered him.

"Your parents are away, but sure. Don't you think you could use some more rest?"

"PAH! I've had enough of this bed! I want to go to school." He said proudly, no one would disagree to that statement.

**So, we have a bit of a story to go on now... I will try to update again by Sunday, if don't, well, please yell at me.**

**More coming (not so) soon...**


	7. Jealousy

**I may miss the next week because I am gonig to be somewhere next Sunday, but I will try to get it before, or after, which ever is closer to the right time...**

**Luckily, 'The Blessing of Life' is nearing completion. Right on time, I am rather impressed with my guessing... What is funnier is that I only have 2 chapters before you are caught up to me, and well, there would've been one had I decided to makes it super long, but then it would've had to be a record breaker in length, nearing 15 pages...**

**And to CC, thank you very much for you compliments, and everyone too. But, specifically to CC, I do write a bit more mature content, I am aware of this, but, most of the time, I do my best to demonize sexual misconduct, now, in this case, with animals, well, I look at it in animal years, even though I probably shouldn't. But, you must admit that said activities are a large part of a teens life, even if they don't participate in them, and even if they deny it. I say no more.**

**Well, either way...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Sarah, Stephen, Daisy, Brunis, and Brian had all sat down for lunch. And the three Prower's were all amazed at how much Stephen had learned.

"Hi Daisy. Hi Brunis! Hi Brian!" Stephen remembered their names perfectly.

"Hello Stephen, how are you?" Daisy asked him sincerely.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"That? How are you?"

"How do you feel?"

"I feel the table!" Stephen stated matter-of-factly with a big grin on his face.** (A/N: Yes, it is easy to make Stephen a funny character for me.)**

"No, silly." Sarah butted in, trying not to laugh, "'How do you feel?' Not, 'what do you feel?' Are you happy, sad, or angry?"

"Happy!" He stated cheerily.

"He's still learning, he's improved though." Sarah reported with a grin.

"I can see that. Amazing what a day and XT can do, eh?" Brunis smiled looking at Daisy for a brief second.

"I know, but that XT guy is really weird."

"What's this?" Stephen asked as he picked up a fork and poked his food.

"That is cafeteria food. You eat it to stay alive."

"Alive?"

"Yeah, not dead."

"What's alive?"

Sarah began to point at living things in the cafeteria, and then sighed.

"Anything that moves is pretty much alive…" Sarah then thought of the wind and rocks tumbling down hills. "On second thought, no, anything that can talk, move, and breath is alive, let's put it at that." **(A/N: To a child's mind, it is as clsoe as they can get it, on average.)**

"Walks, talks, breathes… got it!" Stephen nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well, eat your food Stephen." Sarah told him.

Slowly, he picked up the forked material, and carefully lifted it to his mouth. Watching everyone else, he picked up on a few habits and memorized them perfect; such as chewing with your mouth closed, not talking while you eat, and talking after you had swallowed your food, were some of these. But, eating with the fork out of your mouth was one that he had to learn on his own. **(A/N: Uh-oh...)**

"Ow!" Stephen yelped in pain as the fork stabbed the inside of his mouth, a small trickle of blood coming out.

"Eww, what did you do Stephen?"

"The fork bit me!" **(A/N: My pride and joy of the chapter... I went on about this for a week, laughing my butt off every time I saw a fork... lol...)**

"Did you bite the fork?" Stephen nodded with teary eyes; even though he was nine, he acted like a baby.

"Come here Stephen…" Sarah grabbed his hand, and began to wander to the nurse's office.

She felt rather embarrassed doing this, due to the fact that many people laughed and giggled at her as she took the crying nine year old to the office.

"Stephen is going to be a real trip for her, isn't she?" Brunis whispered softly into his fiancé's earbud.

"Yes, and I'm loving every second of it. Sarah annoys me…" Daisy snickered evilly. "She's got a lot of her father in her."

"But she's probably going to be important to the wedding… after all, she is nearly family." Brunis reminded her humbly.

"Yeah yeah, I know. But she still annoys me."

* * *

Sarah couldn't help but feel terrible as Stephen moaned about the inside of his mouth as she tried to take him to the office. **(A/N: Aw... how cute. She's sympathetic for him!)**

"Stephen, please, no talking."

"It hurts!"

"I know it hurts, but talking isn't going to make it better."

"Why?"

"Your mouth moves, the hole will get bigger."

"What hole?"

"The fork put a small cut or hole in your mouth."

"Oh."

"So as you move it, it gets bigger."

"Oh."

"So stop talking."

"Ok." And he stopped, much to Sarah's relief.

Soon, they reached the office, and again, a small commotion was taking place.

"Mr. Xavier, I know what you say, and trust me, I understand, but I cannot disobey him, you must go."

"So today is my last day?"

"Yes. You will need to reset the gym, and give me the keys."

"Whoa now, just because I'm being laid off does NOT mean the gym goes back to normal."

"But no one knows how to operate your gym."

"I know a few." XT smiled into space.

"Who?"

"Well, she'll come by tomorrow, I'm sure you'll love her as much as I do."

"Who?"

"And don't discriminate her, she is rather short…" XT chuckled, ignoring him as he left.

"Ah, you two." XT eyeballed Sarah and Stephen, so innocently holding hands.

"Yes Mr. XT?"

"Just XT please, well, may I ask what you're doing out of lunch?"

"It bit me!"

"What bit you?" XT looked a bit concerned.

"The fork!"

XT chuckled.

"Nurse? Ah, Ms. Riley, these two require your assistance. We've got another fork biting."

A young human girl walked into the room, a bit shorter than XT, standing at around 5 foot 4, with an innocent face, and a neat array of brown hair.

"Hello, and what is the problem again?" Her voice was simply sweet, and very reassuring.

"The fork bit me!" Stephen folded his arms, and made a grunting noise.

"You see why they need help?" XT chuckled, apparently he knew this girl well.

"Yeah, well, see ya XT, I hope you can find another job…"

"I've already got one! Professional Matchmaker! HAHA!" He cackled as he wandered off to his class.

Ms. Riley rolled her eyes and tended to the short little animals in front of her.

"Who are you?" Sarah asked shyly, she'd never seen a human before.

"I'm Ms. Riley, the nurse."

"What animal are you?"

"I'm a human silly."

"What's that?" Stephen interrupted as the nurse took the two into her room.

"Excuse my friend, he is… rather uneducated in knowing things."

"How come?"

"We found him in the forest, barely alive." Sarah shrugged the question's off with a hand motion, Ms. Riley realized she knew little as it was.

"Ah, now open wide for me." The nurse held Stephen's cheek tenderly as he shyly opened his mouth.

"You know, you should be carefully about those biting forks," she said after assessing the damage, "you should take them out of your mouth before you bite your food."

"Ok." Stephen seemed really shy around this nurse. She was easily less than 17.

"I can't do much, but I can give you a bit of medicine for your pain." Ms. Riley gave Stephen a small pill, and then a glass of water.

"Stephen, put the pill in your mouth, and then drink the water." Sarah seemed annoyed.

"Same time?"

"Yes." Both females responded in unison.

"Ok…" Stephen took the pills, and tried to do as he was told, but he only ended up gagging, and spitting it all up. "Sorry." Stephen blushed a bit.

"It's ok, maybe we'll try the liquid medicine." The nurse daintily got up and began to shuffle around through the cabinets for the right medicine. The whole time, Stephen watched her.

Sarah saw this, and she felt strange. A burning desire to reach out and punch that _Ms. Riley_ was smoldering within her, and she couldn't help but glare at her. _Why am I feeling this way? She hasn't done anything wrong, has she? But she is butting in on my job to watch over Stephen, yeah, that must be it, she is taking my job away, so now I am angry at her. Her and her cute face and perfect hair… Stephen likes her more… _Sarah didn't even realize what she was thinking, or came to the thought that what she was thinking was controversial to itself, after deciding one thing, and thinking another.** (A/N: Jealousy! Guilty is charged.)**

"There Stephen, all better." Ms. Riley beamed.

"Th-thanks." Stephen turned around, dazed and confused with a really big smile on his face.

"Come on Stephen, we're leaving." Sarah sent Ms. Riley a glare for a reason she didn't quite understand, and took Stephen's hand to leave.

"Everyone in this school hates me. I hate being human…" Ms. Riley muttered as she cleaned up the mess that Stephen made.

"You do realize that it was not your race, but rather your beautiful and charming face." XT rhymed as he appeared on the stretcher there. The nurse stood up quickly and let loose an 'EEK'.

"XT, you scared me." Ms. Riley tried to regain a normal heartbeat. XT only rolled his eyes.

"Again, did you see the way Stephen looked at you Diana?"

"No, how?"

"He had a bit of a crush on you, you are after all, really cute, on human standards." The nurse blushed.

"Oh stop it XT, I don't like being flattered by a robot."

"It wasn't flattering, I am just stating facts. And besides, that girl is starting to like Stephen."

"So when she shot me the evil eye, it was-"

"-Because she was jealous of you getting all of Stephen's attention, and you got him to blush and stutter."

"Oh."

"Yes, now, Diana Riley, you and I should get back to work, don't you agree?"

"I still can't believe he's firing you."

"Oh, my replacement will be better."

"Who?"

"Well, you'll love her as much as I do, hahahahahaha." XT cackled lightly as he got up and walked away. "Again, she's short, so don't mock her."

"So am I for a junior!"

"I've seen shorter." XT mumbled as he walked away. Why did some random girl always have to like him wherever he went? It never made much sense to him.

"Well, back to work…" He muttered glumly as he went back into the gym, readying it for another game of dodgeball.

**Things are starting to blossom, and I am getting a feel for this story again... all I'll probably have to do is reread it and I OUGHT to be back in the swing of things...**

**Well, I'll see you all in a week!**

**More coming (not so) soon...**


	8. Misfits

**Ok, you readers have officially depleted my stocked story material, so if I haven't finished 'The Blessing of Life' by the end of this week, then I will not post another update. (I doubt I won't have it done though, I have no way of knowing how tough school is going to be...)**

**Anyway, I'd better shut up now, shouldn't I?**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Sarah had never felt so strange. Stephen obviously liked the nurse, but why did that annoy Sarah? Why did that matter to her?

"Ms. Riley…" Stephen said her name, and Sarah nearly had smoke come out of her ears.

"What about her?" Sarah grunted.

"She's pretty like a flower!"** (A/N: Again, SO much fun to use the mind of a baby, in a sense...)**

"So? Who cares?" Sarah grumbled annoyed.

"I do!"

Sarah felt like smacking Stephen in the face, but knew that that wouldn't do anything for her, nor would she be hurting Ms. Riley.

"Well I don't!" Sarah let go of Stephen's hand and began to walk forward faster back toward the lunch room.

"Why not? She's pretty."

"So what?"

"She's pretty."

"I don't care!"

"Why are you angry?"

"Because! I-" Sarah really began to think why, and found nothing, "I-I don't know…"

"Then be happy! Ms. Riley is pretty!"

"What about anyone else? What about Daisy?"

"She _is _a flower!"

"And what about me?"

"Yeah! You're pretty too!"

Oddly, relief swept through Sarah like him calling her pretty meant something to her. Did it? She couldn't tell.

"Thanks…" Sarah looked ahead and her pace slowed, letting Stephen walk besides her happily. A tear fell from her face, now she was angry with herself.

"Why do you cry?"

"I'm angry."

"Why?"

"Because I yelled at you, and I shouldn't have."

"Oh, but why do you cry?"

"Because I am confused about everything."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Oh."

Sarah said nothing more, she just gripped Stephen's hand and wiped her foolish tears away.

"Let's go to the playground."

"What's that?"

"A big huge area where you can run, jump, skip, play, all within the school."

"Ooh, fun."

"Yep. Now come on Stephen." Sarah tugged at his hand and guided him to the playground.

* * *

The grassy outdoors was still a new place for Sarah, and she waited a second to get a good smell of the air; mentally giggling when Stephen mimicked her, and sneezed.

The two walked, hand in hand, around the playground, looking for something to do.

Upon seeing a group of kids balling a simple game of catch, Stephen became curious.

"What's that?"

"The game that they are playing?"

"Yeah. What's that?"

"That is catch. It is a fun game, wanna play it?"

"Yeah."

"Can you guess how to play it? Or do I have to tell you how?" Stephen wasn't listening, he was learning. Watching the game be played, he began to pick up on a few tricks that they used; such as how to throw the ball, when to let go, how to hold your hand to catch the ball.

Slowly, he mimicked a few of their actions, completely lost in thought.

"Stephen? Hello?"

"Oh, what Sarah?"

"Do you want to play?"

"Yeah, I want to play with them."

"Ok…"

Sarah grabbed his hand and led him over to the group of people.

"Can we play?"

"Sure Sarah, just, no spin dashes from you. Who's your friend?"

"This is Stephen, he is still learning… a lot."

"Oh, is that the baby kid everyone's been talking about?"

"Don't call him a baby." Sarah growled.

"Why not-" some kid hit the one talking, hard, and he correct himself, "Of course he can." He said sincerely.

"Thanks." Sarah answered for a bewildered Stephen, confused as to what everyone was talking about.

"Let's try to make this baby look like an idiot, ok?" One kid snickered into the ear of another.

"Ok," was said in reply.

* * *

A few minutes into the game, no one had thrown to Stephen, but, of course, many threw to the popular Sarah. Only Sarah had ever bothered to throw to Stephen once or twice, but even then, the kids caught it before he could get it. He was starting to look sad.

"Ok, watch this, I'm going to hit that big baby in the head." One kid said a bit too loudly, and Sarah heard it.

The kid wound up his arm, and lobbed the ball like a professional pitcher at Stephen's head. Sarah, being the daughter of the world's fastest land creature, ran in front of the ball and caught it.

"What was that for?" Sarah demanded.

"We only wanted to throw the ball to him." A great many complained.

"The throw slower, he isn't used to this game." Sarah hurled the ball back to him and the game continued.

"I didn't get hurt…" Stephen mumbled as Sarah walked away. His brow furrowing, he looked at Sarah curiously as she walked away.

"Ok, this time, let's see if we can make him trip."

"How?"

"Well, if he is new to this game, he will try to catch the ball before it is in range, so he will jump up, and fall down trying to reach for it."

"So, we throw it high up?"

"As high as you can go. And oh yeah, make it look like a mistake."

"Ok."

The kids all snickered as Stephen and Sarah waited obliviously for the game to restart.

A few seconds later, their plan was in action.

"Hey Stephen! It's to you!"

"What?" He asked, looking for the ball.

"Look up! It's coming right to you!" The kids laughed as Stephen looked up to find the ball.

Squinting to minimize the glare, Stephen found the ball. Sarah held a hand to her face, she knew what was about to happen, he was going to try and get it, while it was still twenty feet in the air.

Stephen pushed his legs into the ground hard and leapt up. To everyone's amazement, Stephen jumped the twenty feet and caught the ball perfectly. Gently, he fell down and landed on his feet.

The kid's mouths dropped an extra foot.

"How did you do that?"

"I jumped." Stephen said calmly as he threw it to another dumbstruck kid. Due to everyone's astonishment, the ball only bounced off the kids head.

"WEIRDO!"

"FREAK!"

"ALIEN!"

"Go away you baby freak!"

These words, most of which Stephen didn't understand, made his eyes begin to water.

"What did I do?"

Sarah felt his pain, and gripped his hand.

"Yeah that's right you wanna-be hero! Go take the freak away!" At this, Sarah was ticked off.

"What did you say to me punk?"

"I said, 'wanna-be hero-" his statement ended with a foot in his mouth.

"Wanna say it again punk?"

"Your dad lost his flair years ago. No one needs a hero anymore."

"YOU SHUT UP!" Sarah socked the kid in the face, but he kept going.

"And, now, you, his daughter, think you're something special? Ha. That's a laugh. You know hanging out with that freak isn't going to help with your problems. He'll make everything worse."

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Sarah punched the kid again, and then corrected herself by walking away.

_That idiot… making fun of Stephen like that… grr…_

"Sarah? Why did you hit him?"

"Don't ever mimic that Stephen, I overreacted."

"Why?"

"Because he was making fun of you."

"Why?"

"Because like me, you are a bit different."

"What's different?"

"Not the same as everything else."

"Oh. Why am I different?"

"Because you can jump really high."

"That was really high?"

"Yes, extremely. How did you do it?"

"It is easy. You just push down on your legs." Sarah did as he told, but only got a few feet off of the ground.

"Why can't you do it?" Stephen looked at her curiously again, and then shrugged. "But why did they say those things to me?"

"Because they were probably jealous, and they don't like you."

"Why?"

"Listen Stephen, I don't know why. But for some reason stupid people like doing stupid things to people who are better than them, probably just to make the people who are better look as stupid as the stupid people. I don't know why, but they do."

"Oh. Are we the better people?"

"Yes Stephen, we are the better people. Come here, we need to take a break."

"What's a break?"

"Breaks are times where you don't really do anything but relax."

"How do you relax?"

"Just lean back against that tree. I'll show you."

Stephen sat rigidly against the back of the tree, and let his back press into it.

"Now, try to act calm and emotionless."

"Ok." Stephen's grin vanished, and his head leaned back closer into the tree.

Sarah felt tired herself, and just sat down next to him, leaning slightly against Stephen's shoulder.

"You're so squishy!" Sarah commented as she felt the rubbery shoulder she was lying on.

"What is squishy?"

"Like, feel your arm, and pull a bit." Stephen did so, and watched as his skin stretched out about three inches.

"EWW! That's weird!"

Stephen started making a few sniffling noises.

"Oh Stephen, I didn't mean it like that, it's just, I've never seen someone able to do that."

"You can't?"

"No one I know can."

"Lemme see."

Stephen pinched at Sarah's skin and found that he could only pull up an inch.

"OW!" Sarah whined at the pain.

"Sorry." Stephen let go and relaxed, letting himself sink into the tree; literally.

"Stephen, why am I falling?"

She only heard snoring noises. Sarah got up, and looked at Stephen, he was literally molding himself into the tree. **(A/N: Out of curiosity, has anyone here figured out what Stephen's 'ability' is yet? I'd like to hear your opinions on it.)**

"STEPHEN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Stephen instantly woke up and reformed into a hedgehog.

"What?"

"You were a mushy pile on the tree!"

"No I wasn't."

"I'm seeing things then…"

"What?"

"Never mind… come on, let's go…" Sarah got up and helped Stephen up. The two walked back into the school.

For this day, Gym was no longer her first class, but rather the last.

**Oh no. The gym... dah dah dah dum...**

**Now, what could I possibly had be done in the gym? (Well, I'll take answers, because I haven't written it yet, lol...)**

**More coming soon...**


	9. Alien in Dodgeball

**_Angels sing out as this story rises from the ashes and into the gleaming sunlight after a 2.5 month haitus..._**

**I'M BACK EVERYONE! HURRAY!**

**Now, I actually am writing this story, FINALLY! I want to finish this, and I want it good, so I am gonig to be worknig on this now. The Blessing of Life took a LOT longer than I anticipated, and well, I got distracted. It happens, we all know, but, without futher ado, LET'S GET THAT UPDATE!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Sonic and Amy were struggling getting settled in their house, it just seemed too, foreign for them. Not that Brunis didn't do an amazing job for them, and for free too, but it was bigger than they imagined, and finding everything within it was a challenge.

"So, do you want to go get jobs?" Amy asked, trying to make the task sound appealing.

"Sure, we need to do that soon." Sonic sighed.

Amy grabbed her husband's hand, and merrily skipped outside.

"Why are you so happy? We are going to get jobs."

"I'm happy because I'm going to get a job with the world's greatest husband."

"Ah, then you have a reason to skip." Sonic laughed as he walked with her.

* * *

In XT's Gym, a small being skittered around the office, impatiently awaiting the completion of her father's latest invention.

"Ok, Quasar, I'm done." XT's oily voice was music to her ears.

"So what does it do? And how do I use it?"

"Simple, it IS you."

"What?"

"Come here." XT grabbed the four-legged, single-eyed, metallic bug, and brought her to the top of his table.

"What are you doing?" Quasar asked as her father rudely yanked at her four legs, trying to place them into slots made into the cast on the table.

"Upgrading you, it will only take a few seconds." She squirmed and tried to get away, "that is, only if you cooperate."

"I don't want to!"

"But you can go back to your 'Love Bug' mode whenever you want."

"But I don't wanna be a two-eyed freak!"

"Well too bad, two eyes are better than one."

"No!"

"Do I have to faze you?"

"Humph!" The sassy bug leaned back on two of her legs and put her other two at where her hips would be.

"Oh no you don't." XT zapped her with a small bolt of purple lightning and she went limp.

In a few seconds, XT had expanded her limbs and gave her a torso. She was on his table at the shocking height, for her, of two feet.

"Unnghhh… what did you do?"

"And now you look a bit more like my daughter Quasar."

"EEK! What did you do? I'm a monstrosity." Quasar looked at her new form, she had a human shape to her, and even a proper head, complete with the 'freaky' two eyes, to match.

"I gave you an upgrade so that you can run the gym for me."

"Why can't you do it?"

"Because I have to go."

"Why?"

"I'm being fired."

"PAH! They couldn't do that to you."

"Well, this moron is intent on doing so. So, I'm going to leave without much a fight, leaving you in charge."

"Fine." Quasar made an extended sigh.

"Now get off of my desk."

"Oh wow, this is weird…" Quasar took a few feeble steps, only to fall. XT caught his daughter, and helped her up.

"Now you can stand, right?"

"Yes, not let go of me. I'm a big girl now." Quasar cackled at the pun she just made.

"Fine, now, take a few steps, and do so slowly."

Quasar did so, and began to sway.

"Use your arms to balance yourself."

XT laughed as his daughter flailed her new arms around like a moron and still fell.

"You'll get it." XT laughed.

"Now what?"

"You are going to watch me work the gym, and then run it yourself, ok?"

"Got it. So what does this button do?" Quasar tried to lift one finger and tap a button, but ended up pushing an array of buttons.

"I've never tried that combination before," XT listened at the whirling sound of gears moving, and imagined the kids screaming, "but I doubt we'll want anything to happen to our guests…"

"Yes, the little kids are _so _important."

"Life is important, Quasar, so respect them, it is the one thing they have and we don't."

"Oh yeah… Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, just don't do it again."

"So how do we start their class?"

"Well, you can take attendance with this…" XT began to show his annoyingly defiant daughter everything that made his gym function harmoniously.

* * *

Sarah and Stephen stepped into the gym cautiously. For some reason, it didn't feel as safe as before. The lighting was being tampered with, changing hues from vivid purples to extravagant yellows.

"What happened?"

"Students," XT's voice melodically spoke over the speakers, "I am training a new gym coach, seeing as I am being fired today. This younger teacher has little experience with the gym, and thus the occasional malfunction of the gym. If something bad were to happen, please remain calm and call my name out. I assure you all though that nothing too bad will happen. Please wait as we work on attendance."

"Ok Stephen," Stephen turned to face Sarah and began to listen very carefully, "XT is going to make us play a game. It is fast paced, and it is VERY fun. It is called dodgeball."

"Ok, what's dodgeball?"

"I'm getting there, hold on. Dodgeball is a game, kind of like catch, where you throw the balls really, really fast, and try to hit the people, before they can catch them."

"Ooh, but won't they get hurt?"

"XT has the game set up so that you can't."

"Ok."

"But there is a twist. You can't get hit yourself."

"Oh."

"But you can catch the ball, and they get out."

"What's out?"

"Out is when you can't play for a little bit. In this game, you will turn into a white blob, and not be able to move until someone else on your team catches a ball."

"Ok, I get it."

"So repeat to me what you know."

"Hit people with the balls. Don't get hit by the balls. Try to catch balls coming at me."

"Very good. Now, we wait. Hopefully, I will be on your team."

"Ok."

"Oh yeah, and don't cross the line, that is an instant out."

"Instant?"

"Yeah, like, really fast."

"Oh, ok. No going past the line."***** Stephen said thoughtfully, scrunching his grey brow. **(A/N: The '*' is the spot where I was stopped for the last 2 and a half months, just to let you all know.)**

Suddenly, the gym stopped changing colors.

"Ah, good job little Q, you're doing better- wait, what's that light? You idiot… you turned the speakers on! Ugh…" XT's voice echoed throughout the room, alongside the laughter of little kids.

"What was that?" Stephen asked, very curious, as always.

"That was our gym teacher, who apparently is being fired. You know, XT, that guy who taught you yes and no earlier today?"

"Oh yeah! Where is he?"

"He's in a room near here."

"How did we hear him?"

"Because he had speakers that he was speaking into."

"What's a speaker?"

"It is a little box that takes a noise from one place to another."

"Oh, ok!" Stephen seemed content as he stood in the white, curved room with Sarah.

"Ok class!" A new, female voice, smooth as glass, spoke into the speakers, "starting today, I am your new gym teacher, presently, I cannot show my face, but I guarantee that tomorrow I will. My name is Quasar, and I am Mr. Xavier's daughter. But enough of that, today, we are playing dodgeball again. I'm sure you know the rules, so, get on the same teams as yesterday, and get ready."

"Ok Stephen," Sarah began, "Come with me, we're going over here, ok?" She told him, taking his hand.

"Fast paced?"

"Yes, very fast." Sarah answered.

"Why is the freak on our team?" A kid near Sarah asked, very annoyed.

Stephen got the watery eyes again.

"Don't call him that, I'm no better, and I'm good, aren't I?"

No response, only mumbles.

Sarah smirked, and some faint rumbles from within the gym's walls made it turn into a grin.

"You know how to play, so, PLAY!" The field formed again, exactly as it was; just like space.

"Hurry!" A kid from the other team yelled loudly, and a few of the faster sprinters ran at the center where the gleaming white balls were.

Sarah turned to Stephen for a moment.

"Wait right here for now, catch the balls if they hit you, ok?"

"Ok." But Sarah was already gone.

And then she was back, with all of the balls lined up at the center in her arms.

"One for you, and one for you, and two for you, two for you," she chanted as she distributed her wealth.

"Fire!" They all roared, and the balls were launched.

"Stephen, throw the ball." Sarah commanded gently.

"But what if I hurt them?"

"You can't get hurt." Sarah assured, handing him a ball. "And neither can those guys."

"Ok…" Stephen was unsure as he threw the ball relatively hard at the other team.

They didn't see it coming, so the poor mole was knocked out, and vanished.

"Where did he go?"

"When you get hit, you turn invisible, and can't be hit by the balls."

"Oh… so… ok." Stephen thought, it was a hard concept to grasp.

"Incoming!" Sarah cried out, and ducked at the incoming ball.

Stephen turned to see the white light coming straight for him.

Sarah watched in horror as the ball came at his face, and by some miracle, his head twitched at just the right moment, leaving the faintest opening for the ball to go through the space where his ear just was.

A second ball came at him then, and he turned to see this one just a few moments later, and his head, for the briefest moment, ducked down into his neck, to dodge it. **(A/N: Eventually, what he is will make sense. I've forgotten who I've told, if anyone... so, if you think you know, go ahead and send a review with it, you probably are right.)**

The moment both balls were gone, Sarah looked at him with golf ball eyes.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

"Do what?"

"You're head sunk into your chest like a turtle!"

"No it didn't." Stephen said confidently.

"Yes. It. Did." Sarah said equally as confident.

"No, it didn't." Another ball came flying, in between them, and this time, Stephen leaned out and caught it.

"Stephen! You got one!" Stephen smiled, both forgot the freak head thing for a moment, as Stephen gave Sarah the ball.

"You throw it."

"No, no, you do it, you caught it." Sarah urged, catching another ball and chucking it back.

Stephen threw the ball, but, as he watched it, the kid on the other team caught it.

"Augh!" He shrieked as he vanished into a ball of light, and the world around him became negative in color. What was once black became white.

"Stephen?" Sarah yelped, looking at her friend vanishing.

Stephen saw her, and stood next to her, and tried to talk to her, but they couldn't hear each other. His hands reached out across the little void, and he met hers. They could still touch.

Frightened, yet relieved, Stephen hugged Sarah tightly, afraid of letting go.

Sarah smiled as a reflex, liking the strange feel this invisible Stephen had, still a bit squishy.

Then someone caught a ball, and Stephen reappeared.

The moment Sarah saw watch she was doing, she let go, and blushed wildly. **(A/N: AWWWWWWWWW!)**

"Thanks. That was scary." Stephen said slowly.

Sarah nodded, hiding her face from Stephen.

"Sarah, why is your blue face red? Are you bleeding?"

"No silly, I'm not bleeding."

"Then what is the red?"

"I, uh… well… when… I don't… it's kind of like… that was a very sweet thing of you to do I guess."

"So what was that red?"

"It happens when you hug someone…"

"Oh, what was it?"

"A blush."

"Ok… wait…" Stephen thought really hard for a moment. "Daisy blushes when Brunis kisses her. If I kiss you, would you blush?"

Sarah thought heavily on this, would she?

"I… uh…"

A ball all of a sudden came flying at them, and Sarah had no idea it was coming.

"Sarah watch out!" Stephen, who would've been blocked by Sarah as it was about to hit her from behind, grabbed Sarah's shoulders, and spun her behind him, and then, keeping the spinning motion, turned to catch the ball perfectly, and then, kept spinning, and handed the ball to Sarah, then set her back in front of him, and finally spun her around to face the crowd.

"Whoa…" Stephen mumbled, blinking thrice, he did that automatically.

"Stephen…. How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"That spinning thing! THAT WAS AWESOME!"

"What spinning thing?"

"Oh my gosh Stephen… what am I going to do with you?"

"Throw the ball!" Stephen urged, grabbing Sarah's arm and holding it backwards.

"Fine…" Sarah charged up a spin dash, and launched the ball at some unsuspecting kid n the other team.

"That's cool!" Stephen smiled at the spin dash.

"Yeah, only my dad, and a few other hedgehogs can do it."

"Can I see it again?" Stephen begged, looking at her with his big grey eyes.

Sarah smirked and sighed, and then repeated the process for him.

"Cool! I'll try that one day!" Stephen declared, Sarah found it hard not to laugh.

"Ok Stephen, do as you wish."

"Ok then!" Quasar's voice echoed over the intercom, "Game over! Have a nice rest of the day!

Sarah and Stephen left the building, hand and hand like the little kids they were, and merrily found their way to Brunis and daisy to go home.

* * *

**Happy? Sad? Angry? Spill it all out, I'm right here, I'll listen. Surely SOME emotion got into you that I FINALLY updated this story.**

**Now, I actually mean it this time.**

**More coming soon...**


	10. Bringer of Rain

**HA! You all thoguht it was a fluke, that I was going to get your hopes up and then just leave? MUHAHAHAHAHA! YOU CAN'T GET RID OF ME THAT EASILY! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!**

**I return, with yet another update! MUhohohohoho!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Brunis and Daisy were confronted with a strange site as they left school; Richard the Cat, nonchalant as ever, with a single suited human behind him, his hired guard, standing ever so gracefully in the yard outside the front door.

"Hello my fair Queen." He said as politely as he could, "Hello mutt." He looked Brunis over with a grimace.

"Hello Richard." Daisy said shakily, holding Brunis's pawed hand tightly.

"I would just like to inform you that I, as an apology for my atrocious behavior to the most beloved woman I ever met, I am holding a pool party at my house on Friday, everyone, of course, is invited, the mutt included, and the whole school. Flyers will be out by tomorrow, and within a few days, well, I hope you bring your swim suit, it will be one fun party." With a simple nod, Richard and his human pet left, and they both hopped into a black sedan, and drove off hastily back to the mansion.

"That slime-ball… calling me a mutt…" Brunis growled.

"Don't worry honey, he can't do anything you haven't done to me already, right?" She patted his arm with a smile. "There's little he can do while your nearby anyways."

"So are we going?"

"Of course we are! I've been to his hosue before, and his pool is fascinating. I'm sure we can ruin his party anyways by being there. I doubt he wants you there, and he probably thinks, somehow, that I will feel guilty and not bring you with me, which that is obviously not the case." Daisy looked up at him.

"I guess you're right…" Brunis yawned. "Good heavens! I haven't slept in over 36 hours…"

"I'll let you sleep to dinner, and then we can just relax for the rest of the night. I'm sure you won't have a problem with me by you as you sleep?"

"I never have, I never will." Brunis declared, tail wagging slightly.

"Excited much?" Daisy smirked.

"Well, I am actually just doing that to stay awake, you know, the more I move, the more energy I have to use, the more awake I am." Brunis yawned again.

"Sarah! Stephen!" Brian called, jumping from a tree that he always climbed after school and running to the hedgehogs.

"Well, looks like it is time to go." Daisy said, holding Brunis's arm as they walked to the three kids.

"You wouldn't believe what Stephen can do Brian!" Sarah spoke with enthusiasm only a ten year old was capable of.

"What can he do?" Biran asked his hedgehog friend as if Stephen wasn't silently listening behind her.

"He can make his head shrink! And can move like a piece of string! IT'S SO COOL!"

"No I can't." Stephen said confidently.

"I _watched _you do it. I _know_ you can." Sarah said in contradiction.

Daisy and Brunis, being the argument solver's they wanted to be, decided to end the heated conversation before it got worse.

"Hey, how would you guys feel about going to a pool party?"

"I'd love it!" Brian answered instantly.

"I guess…" Sarah said, not liking the water for swimming.

"What's a pool?" Stephen tilted his head to the side, looking cutely at Daisy.

"Well Stephen, a pool is a big body of water where you can swim in the water, splash people, and play around."

"Like a play ground?" Stephen asked hopefully.

"Yes, but with water."

"Cool…" Stephen said, dreaming of this magical term of 'pool'.

"Daisy, why do you ask?" Brian finally questioned.

"Oh that dumb Richard boy wants me to come to a pool party of his, and I am inviting everyone I possibly can to annoy him." Daisy snickered, and then glanced at Sarah. "Ready for the run home?" Daisy said with an evil smirk in her grin.

"You know it!" Sarah grinned, as she started jogging with Daisy, and in moments, they took off like blurs.

"Sarah! Sarah, wait! Sarah!" Stephen cried out, running after her, but, naturally not gaining on her.

"Stephen?" Brunis asked as he walked near the small grey hedgehog.

"Why'd she leave me?" Stephen fell to the ground, crying.

"She just ran home."

"But why did she leave me?"

"Because she wanted to race Daisy." Brunis answered calmly.

"But she left me…" Stephen fell a bit more into the ground, his skin seeming to melt like putty going into the ground, flattening his form ever so slightly.

Brunis was shocked, Sarah wasn't joking; Stephen _could_ in fact do extraordinary things.

"Hey, want me to take you home?"

"No… I want Sarah with me… I feel… sad…" Stephen explained.

"I think you're lonely." Brian said.

"What's 'lonely'?" Stephen asked, not sobering up much.

"Well Stephen, it is when you are sad because someone left you. I felt lonely when I left Daisy, and then felt much better when I saw her again."

"Really?"

"Yes, and we should all go home soon…"

"Why? I want Sarah with me… I do feel lonely." Stephen admitted; he had grown attached to her.

"Hmm…" Brunis thought for a moment, and then looked up at the skies, it wasn't getting lighter. "Well Stephen, you're coming with me, we're going to see Sarah."

"What if she comes back while we're gone?"

"She won't be, she'll be gloating over her inevitable victory to my fiancée…" Brunis sighed as he helped Stephen up, and walked him and his soon-to-be brother-in-law over to his house.

* * *

The moment they got there, Sarah was sitting smugly on the doorstep, with an angry, ranting flower yelling at her.

"You little cheater! Stop using your super speed! It's not fair! You don't ever have to try!" Daisy growled, looking at the cool and collected Sarah, who was examining her nails as she spoke.

"You done?" Sarah responded with a cocky grin.

"You little!" Daisy pounced, and Brunis grabbed her waist midair.

"Now now Daisy, I thought you were only supposed to do that to me." He smirked, and Daisy tried to maintain an angry face.

"Sarah!" Stephen yelped and ran as fast as he could over to her. "Why did you leave me? I was scared and lonely." Using his new word.

"I'm sorry Stephen, I wanted to race Daisy. I beat her."

"Race?"

"When you play a little running game with someone to see who can get somewhere the fastest."

"We obviously you won that, you're too fast." Stephen said, sitting next to her on the porch.

"Yeah…" Sarah said, smirking.

"C'mon you guys, mom's got dinner on the table. Sarah and Stephen, you'd best go to Sonic and Amy's house." Daisy said as they all split up.

* * *

Sarah and Stephen walked the small distance to Tails' neighboring house, and stepped inside.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!"

"Oh hi Sarah, hi Stephen." Amy said, smiling. The motherly chef already had dinner ready, and led everyone to the table for eating.

"No biting forks, right Stephen?" Sarah teased as Stephen took a bite of a his food.

"Ms. Riley…" Stephen smiled, and then Sarah got a bit angry for a moment, and then instantly relaxed; Amy saw this, but said nothing.

"Who's Ms. Riley?" Sonic asked, just before stuffing his face with a lot of food, hungry as an animal.

"The school nurse." Sarah explained.

"Oh… so, how was your day Stephen?"

"Fun! I learned to talk well!" He grinned widely after swallowing a bit of food.

"I can see that Stephen." Sonic admired, and then turned to his daughter, "what'd you do today? Did Stephen bother you at all?" He added in whisper.

"No, not at all. He's like a little brother. Most of the time he was fun to hang out with. And I kind of had to step up for him, as many people called him names…" Sarah trailed off, thinking.

The family ate in silence for a bit, and then Stephen, after being directed where to put his plate, left the house for a little bit.

A bit more silence in the family, and then Sarah broke it again.

"Dad, have you lost your flair?"

"My speed is my flair, Sarah, and I haven't lost it, why do you ask?" Sonic was taken aback by this question.

"Some kids were teasing me, telling me that I was the daughter of an unneeded hero, and that you were worthless anymore." Sarah looked sad.

"That's not true Sarah. I am still needed, just not in the same way. They don't need heroes that can do amazing things anymore, that much is true though… they need heroes that can do other things, like build space ships, and manage money, and lead countries."

"So we are worthless now? No one needs our running talents?" Sarah looked like she was about to cry.

"No Sarah. You're not worthless. But the fact that we run faster than anything else is something to be proud about, not shameful."

"Then why does Daisy complain about it, and why does it seem like we have so many problems? Are you sure we're not worthless?"

Sonic thought heavily, and then, just before responding, Sarah took off, out the door.

Sonic set his utensils down, and stood up, but Amy yelled at him.

"That's a race you don't want to rush to, Sonic." Amy said no more, but Sonic looked out the door, wanting to be with his daughter.

Sarah ran like crazy, away from her house. Turning and darting and swinging around the woods, she finally ended up running out of the forest, and onto a small plain, very far from her home.

There was Stephen, lying on his back, occasionally rolling around, but mostly staring at the stars.

"They're so pretty." He said dreamily. "Don't you think so?"

_How'd he get here? It's like a couple miles away from home! He JUST left less than five minutes ago._

"Yeah, the stars a very pretty. I always like to connect them and make pictures." Sarah said rather gloomily.

Stephen began randomly humming as he looked into the skies, and Sarah laid down next to him, watching the stars.

"Hmm, hmm… hum… ho…" Stephen absently mumbled, almost melodically.

"What are you singing Stephen?" Sarah asked, only to get more humming and mumbled singing in response. **(A/N: I'll give you a hint, he doesn't have any idea.)**

She looked back up at the clouds after staring at Stephen for a moment, then looked at the skies, the stars were gone.

"Ko ko, lemdo… bok bon ding dum…" Stephen continued to sing, and the sky got a bit darker despite being night. He smiled at this.

"Stephen?" Sarah was beginning to get worried, "Let's go home…" She pulled at Stephen's arm, but he didn't budge.

"Lekum!" He shouted upwards, and then it was as if the sky responded. Rain started pouring down.

"Stephen?" Sarah was frightened now. _Did he just summon the rain?_

"Sarah! It's rain!" Stephen cheered, smiling and grinning, opening his mouth and letting the water in, laughing wildly.

"Yeah, Stephen, let's go home… I think it's this way…" Sarah looked back at the forest, but couldn't remember exactly where she came from. "Oh no…"

"Sarah?" Stephen finally caught her worry.

"Stephen, where's home?"

"Uh… I don't know…"

"You just wandered out of the house, and don't know where you went off to?" Sarah looked at him, dumbfounded.

"No. I just don't remember how I got here." Stephen said honestly.

"Stephen! We're lost! How are we going to get home?" Sarah started crying, and Stephen put on a sad face, but then, a bolt of lightning streaked through the skies.

Stephen was lost in thought, staring into the skies. Another bolt of lightning split the sky, and its reflection could vividly be seen in Stephen's eyes.

Robotically in trance, he looked down, grabbed Sarah, and hugged her tightly, burying her face into his chest.

Blinded for a moment, Sarah tried to pull away, wondering what had just happened, and then she felt something weird; Stephen's feet went down, and then he jumped, hard.

The weirdest thing was, he didn't touch the ground for a very long time.

Another crack of thunder and a flash of lightning that seemed deathly close hit Sarah, or at least, it felt like it.

After doing what felt to be a front flip in the air, his feet gentle touched the ground again, and let go of Sarah.

Wood was beneath her feet, they were home.

"Stephen, how did you-?" Sarah asked him.

Stephen was staring blankly into the wall, and then, after a bit of time, he twitched, as if just processing this information.

"Huh? Sarah! You got us home! Thank you!" He hugged her tightly, and smiled.

"I didn't do anything."

"Magic then!" He smiled and grinned widely.

Thunder cracked twice, and they opened the door.

"Mom! Dad!" Sarah ran to them, now frightened.

"Sarah…" They both sighed, worried sick. "Now go dry off and go to bed, before you get trapped in another storm." Amy added with a smile.

Sonic was gone for a brief moment, and then returned with two towels.

"Here you go Sarah. Stephen… wait, Stephen, you're not wet?" Stephen's skin was as dry as a bone in a desert.

"What's wet?" He asked innocently.

"When you've been in water, you come out and the water is still on you, that's wet Stephen." Sonic said dropping the towel, laying a hand on him.

His skin had no water on it at all.

"You were just in the middle of a tempest, and you have not a drop of water on you… how'd you do that?"

"Did what?"

Sonic was about to respond, but figured he wasn't going anywhere with it.

"Never mind Stephen…" Sonic said in defeat and he and Amy sat at the table talking quietly to each other about jobs and supporting Stephen too.

"I feel… weird…" Stephen said as Sarah dried off.

"How so Stephen-" Sarah's mouth fell down as Stephen started to shake.

Water poured off of his body, and as he shook, it all left him, spraying all over.

"There! I feel better now!" Stephen said as he grinned and walked around to find Sarah's bed, now dry again, as if he was never wet.

Sarah, Amy, and Sonic just stared, mouths agape, at the situation.

"That seriously did not just happen." Sonic said, blinking.

Sarah dried off again, and then started off to her room.

* * *

Stephen was waiting on her bed, smiling, looking around.

"This is a bed, and that is a door, and that is dresser!" Stephen's vocabulary was gaining in size, and Sarah had to give him credit there.

"Yes Stephen, it is." Sarah crawled into her bed, exhausted.

Thinking of all of the things she could say to Stephen, either yelling at him for making a mess of her home, or not telling her how he could do all of these amazing things, or commend him for taking her home, or try to interrogate him on his strange abilities, she only landed on a single, simple statement.

"Stephen, no more surprises tonight, ok?"

"Ok Sarah. No surprises." He agreed happily.

Then, with eye lids heavy, Sarah collapsed into a dreamy sleepy.

* * *

**Is Stephen making any more sense to your guys? Or is he just annoying and baffling you more? (Note: It is not pronounced "Steven", it is pronouced "Steffan", kind of in tribute to my best friend Stephanie, nick-named Steff.)**

**Well, I don't have much to say... Other than maybe tomorrow I will have:**

**More coming soon...**


	11. Envy

**FYI: TWILIGHT IS AWESOME (even thoguh the movie kind of was... crappy compared to the books... but then again, they always are...)**

**Ah well, rather than listen to my b****ing and moaning, how about an update?**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

At the Gym in school, everything was still running properly.

"So they are to play a different one of these games every day? And all I really have to do is yet this play button?" Little Quasar in her two foot tall humanoid form asked.

"Yep, and make sure that they follow the rules." XT said, as if to conclude something.

Quasar followed her dad as he walked towards the door, and fell face first again, she still couldn't walk.

"Oh yeah, and Quasar, see that green button on the grid? Row 98, column R? Press it, walk over to it and press it." **(A/N: You will find that I stuff R98 into my stories a lot... lol...)**

Quasar stumbled over to the grid and pressed the button lightly.

Instantly the room changed slightly, and a small pad in front of the monitor appeared.

"Now, without cheating by getting into the system, I want you to play that game, and I want you to get good at it. The moment you master every song, you will be able to walk like a pro. It won't take long, maybe more than an hour or so for you." XT left the room, waving to his daughter, and left the dimension with a tremendous boom. **(A/N: XT's Exodus fromthis story for a long, long time, if he's coming back, I don't know... I want to have some fun with Quasar.)**

Quasar looked out the door, and sighed, her daddy was gone, and might not be back for a long time.

So, what was the first thing on her mind?

"Learn to walk." She said, contrary to the modern belief, "THEN party." She smirked wickedly, and hobbled to the pad.

Four arrows, one was facing forward, one was facing left, one was facing downwards, and one was facing right, all in a circle.

Looking from the pad, Quasar looked up at the screen.

_Dance Dance Revolution: DJ XJ's Grand Remix._

"Oh boy… dear old daddy did it again… well, better get this started…" Quasar carefully lifted her foot, and pressed it on the 'start' button on the pad.

After choosing one of the slower songs, Quasar started to play the game, trying, futilely, to play the level.

About half way through the slow song, the screen shook and the big letter of 'E' stood in front of an angry Quasar.

"Sorry mate, come back when you learn to dance." The smooth voice of the computer spoke.

Quasar looked at it, glaring.

"Again then!" Quasar growled, pressed the start button again, and the arrows on the screen started floating upwards, making Quasar move her feet to press the corresponding arrows.

This time, she passed, and her score was a 'D'.

Very proud of her score, she shouted at the computer.

"Look who knows how to move their feet moron!" She smirked, sticking out her metal tongue.

"My grandmother can dance better than you!" The computer responded, as if angry at her.

"WHAT?!" Quasar roared. "Again!"

After memorizing the song twice over, Quasar passed the song with an 'A' this time, and was very happy with it.

"Muhohoho! I beat you this time!" She spoke triumphantly, probably not realizing the computer's AI wasn't capable of hearing.

"You've played this before, haven't you?!" It complimented.

Quasar smiled.

"Yeah! That's right you sack of bolts! Eat it!" Quasar cackled.

Then she noticed something.

It was on easy.

"What? EASY?! THAT WAS EASY?!" Quasar switched the mode to intermediate, and chose another song, just to prove that she, not the computer, was the master.

Unfortunately for her, she got another 'E', and not only that, fell over in the song, resulting in the final 'Boo'.

The game taunted her as she played, and now, as she received her final grade on the song, another failure, it spoke again, with much, unnecessary volume.

"Better luck next time!" It spoke.

"You tease! Again you infernal contraption from hell!" Quasar screamed at it, hitting start again.

This continued all throughout the next, until she got a 'C' on the hardest mode, 'heavy', she could play.

* * *

Sarah and Stephen woke up in a strange position.

Apparently, Stephen liked to roll around in bed, and, seeing as he was in the same bed with Sarah, they found each other in an awkward position.

"Stephen!" Sarah yelped as she found the grey hedgehog spanned over her body, as if he were trying to pin her down.

"Hi Sarah!" Stephen said happily, not realizing exactly why what he was doing was wrong.

"Get off of me!" She pushed him off; luckily, he had little weight.

"What, Sarah?" Stephen asked, eyes bigger, about to cry.

Sarah stayed laying down in her bed, Stephen on the floor, with her hands at her mouth, blushing; Stephen was on top of her as she slept.

The first reaction she showed was anger, rising up she yelled at Stephen.

"What were you doing on top of me Stephen?!" She growled.

"I'm sorry… you were comfy." Stephen's eyes watered slightly, the water flowing off of his face this time, not getting absorbed.

Sarah's face was unfazed at his tears.

"Don't do it again. You shouldn't sleep on top of people, it is very bad."

"I'm sorry…" He held his legs and started sobbing, he wasn't a very emotionally stable person.

Sarah then felt compassion for him, and hopped out of bed, her jacket, unbeknownst to her, was off as she always had it when she woke up after sleeping in a bed.

"Hey Stephen, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled, it was wrong of me." She sat next to him, and patted his back.

Looking at her for a moment, his expression changed.

"What's that Sarah?" Pointing at the bra over her lightly furred chest.

"GAH! STEPHEN! DON'T LOOK AT THAT!" She jumped, and rushed to her bed, hiding herself.

Stephen started crying again.

"Stephen…" _What am I ever going to do with you?_ "Sorry… I… it's just… that's a special part of a girl, and we don't want anyone looking there. It wasn't your fault… Now Stephen, can you please get out of the room so I can change?"

"Change what?"

"My clothes… Stephen, I don't want you to see me without my clothes on. It's kind of simple."

"Oh… sorry…" Stephen crawled out of the room, trying not to make eye contact with Sarah.

"I really kind of feel sorry for him…" Sarah said as she picked up her clothes, and hastily put them on to eat breakfast and go to school.

* * *

Time went by, and as Quasar had to deal with the first hour class, Brunis, Daisy, and Richard's hour, she was ready to make her new debut.

"Well class," Quasar said as she proudly walked in on two feet, if a bit awkwardly.

"Quasar?" Daisy asked, partially recognizing the taller version of the spider she once knew.

"That will be Ms. Q in the gym Daisy Prower." Quasar smirked. "Ok, today class, you shall be playing a game of basketball again."

The class groaned.

"Now why is this? Hmm… ok, I'll spice it up. We'll play it on double court, happier?"

"Wait, what?" Brunis asked, knowing that there was either half court or full court, not double.

Quasar grinned again.

"There will be on hoop, at that end," Quasar pointed, and the hoop appeared, "and one on that end," another hoop appeared.

"You will play in teams, four teams total, and two games will be played. However, once the ball is in the hands of the defensive team in their court, and then taken to the center… well… let's give a demonstration. Brunis, come here."

The hulking wolf came from the crowd and stood in the middle of the court.

"Now, take this ball, and take it to the center, you're the defensive, presently." Quasar bent over to pick up a ball, and fell over. "Frick!" Quasar complained, the class laughed at her. "Not funny." She grumbled, giving Brunis the ball.

He dribbled the white version of the basketball, and took it to the center of the field.

The second he did, everyone felt very strange.

"Whoa!" Instantly, everyone rose into the air, flipped over, and landed with a minor thud.

"And then you take it back to the hoop and shoot." Quasar said, she was on her face again, unable to have made the transition due to lack of balance.

"Quasar, why do you keep falling?" Daisy said, walking over to her friend to help her up; she never got the chance to help though.

"Don't touch me! I'm perfectly fine. Just a bit dizzy, that's all." Quasar snapped, something had made her very grumpy.

Daisy backed off, and went to Brunis's team.

"Split up! The game begins in 2 minutes. If anyone isn't on a team by then, I will force you onto a team.

Luckily, everyone found their place, and Quasar got up to start the game, headed off to a random wall, and, before she could get to the opening, she tripped again, and fell on her face, hat first, which, hurt her and gave her a bit of a shock.

"Hahahaha!" The kids laughed as she pulled herself inside the room.

"Damn kids…" She grumbled, tempted to just lock the gym with them inside it, but, didn't because her father wouldn't approve.

Kicking her feet back, she started the game, and let the kids play.

Pissed at them, she wasn't going to give penalties, if they beat themselves to death, well, that was their problem.

* * *

Brunis and Daisy, now on a team, faced off against Richard, and a few other kids in the gym, it wasn't hard beaten Richard, but he was more clever than he was strong, so the couple was careful around him.

It wasn't like they were actually playing basketball, but rather challenging the other's wits. Brunis was forced, by his good nature, and pestering teammates, to play, but Richard wasn't, leaving him to get uneasily close to Daisy.

"Hello my Queen." Richard said, obviously pretending to play the game and 'cover' Daisy.

"Richard," Daisy sighed, "It's really pointless you know. I'm not going to like you much, you can never be more than a friend to me."

"Are you sure? We'll see." He snickered.

"What? You're going to hit me with another mind controlling chip? I'll never forgive you for that either." Daisy said, starting to run to another section of the court, logically placing herself on the court for the team.

Then, Brunis stole the ball from the other team, and ran off to center court.

Richard slyly tripped Daisy's foot, causing her to fall on him, and, when Brunis hit the center court, and gravity reversed, Richard was on top of her.

"Sorry, my Queen, that was my fault." He said, giving a faint kiss to her cheek.

"Get off of me!" Daisy pushed him, but he stubbornly refused to move, having her pinned.

"Get off of her Richard, or I WILL add another scar to your collection." Brunis threatened, making yet another score for their team.

"Thanks Brunis." Daisy blushed and walked nearer to him, seeking safety from Richard.

Richard, of course, followed.

The next time Brunis took the ball, and had gravity reverse, Richard was a tad more aggressive.

He tripped Daisy onto him, and also had himself land perfectly on her so he was feeling her up a bit.

"RICHARD!" Daisy yelped, a plea to Brunis.

Brunis took the ball that he was about to throw into the hoop, a heavy object at the right speed, and launched it like a bullet into Richard's side, causing him to fly backwards.

Lunging at him, Brunis roared.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! I told you to GET OFF!" Brunis knelt on top of him, holding a fist in the air, and watched the little frail kid tremble beneath him.

He glanced at Daisy, both of them, and Brunis lowered his hand.

"Not worth my time." He grumbled, and hopped off of him, leaving him to tremble for a little while longer. "But be warned, stay away from her during that pool party, for I will be going too, and I refuse to have my best friend molested when I can do something about it." Brunis walked over and kissed Daisy gently, letting her wrap her arms around him to hold herself up.

Richard glared at them from the ground, and sat there as the childish, yet angry voice of Ms. Q spoke on the speakers.

"Game over. Class demised." Quick, short, and simple, and the moment it was done, the gym flipped over, again, making Daisy crash onto Brunis, both still kissing and laughing at the same time.

"Ow! Daisy! You bit my tongue!" Brunis jolted up in shock.

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?" Daisy said like a little seductress.

Brunis only flashed a smile, and kissed her as they walked out of the gym.

Richard lay there, glaring at them.

"What are you staring at, rich boy?" Quasar said with spite, hobbling over to him to kick him out.

"Why didn't you do anything to stop him from hitting me?" He snapped back.

"In MY gym, school rules don't apply. If you want to fight, go ahead, fight, but if you get hurt, it is NOT my problem. If it weren't for my father, I would've just smashed these walls together with all of you inside it, so, shut up, you're lucky you only had to worry about Brunis. In this gym, well, I am more of a threat. So get out, and be warned. Here, I'm always watching you." Richard hopped to his feet and walked out as Quasar kept chanting "I'm watching you."

* * *

In Sarah's class, Stephen was hovering over the poor light blue hedgehog pestering her with questions.

"What is that?" Stephen pointed to the book Sarah was reading.

"A book." She said dully flipping a page on the bean bag chair she was on as the rest of the class did the same.

"What do you do with it?"

"You read it?"

"What's reading?"

"Oh boy… um… you see these little markings? They're letters. You put them together, and make words."

"Oh… how?"

"Um… I don't know! I learned this awhile ago, I don't remember how I know it."

"Can I read too?"

"No, this is my book Stephen, and besides, I like to read at a relatively fast pace, and you can't ever read yet, so, it wouldn't work." Sarah said, complaining as she turned another page.

Stephen walked away with a hint of anger.

A few yards away, he sat at a table grumpily, trying to read another book, but getting nowhere. He'd never been taught how to read before.

Somehow, this bothered him greatly.

Grudgingly, throughout the rest of the day, Stephen managed, trying, without any gain, to read his small, ten paged book.

* * *

Later that night, after dinner in the Rose family, Stephen, upon emptying his plate quickly began to walk unsurely to Sonic.

"Mr. Rose," he begged attention in a more mature manner. Sonic was impressed, to say the least.

"Yes Stephen?" Sonic replied, making sure Sarah was in bed.

"Can you teach me to read?"

"I'm not so sure I'm the one to teach you Stephen, I even have trouble doing that sometimes… but, maybe Tails next door could help you. I'll walk you there if you need me to."

"Ok, but I'm good alone." Stephen said, walking towards the door.

* * *

Tails was sitting on his couch peacefully, stroking the fine green hair of his beloved wife as he watched Brian trudge off to bed.

Smiling, he glanced at the muffled silence of his surrogate daughter's room, and grinned.

"What do you think they're doing?" Cosmo asked, noting Tails' grin.

"Well, nothing any engaged couple shouldn't be doing, I'm sure." It was obvious he both assumed they were doing something specific though.

Then, a light tapping on their doorstep was heard.

The older kitsune hopped off of the couch and buzzed through the air to the door.

"I got it." He replied, opening to see the small, grey hedgehog standing at his doorstep with a small book in his hands.

"Mr. uh…" Stephen thought for a moment, "Prower, could you teach me to read?"

Tails was taken aback by this simple gesture.

"Um… sure Stephen, I'll teach you the basics…" Tails opened the door a bit wider, allowing the small, strange animal into his homestead.

Stephen took a seat on the couch next to the fair and radiant Cosmo as Tails dashed off to get something.

"Reading? You want to read Stephen?" Cosmo asked Stephen, making him blush a bit.

She was much prettier than Ms. Riley.

"Y-yes." Stephen stuttered, not making eye contact with Cosmo.

Cosmo immediately saw this, and sighed with a smile.

"Ok Stephen," Tails said, rushing a huge dry erase board into the room on wheels, "the basics of reading, is basically understanding what letters are, and what they look like, and what sounds they make. For example, and to start off, this is the letter 'A'." Tails said, drawing the character as neatly as he could. "It can be at any size, and can also look like this," as he drew the lower case version of it. "The letter 'A' has a lot of different ways that it can be pronounced, such as ah, a, and uh."

And so, over the course of the next few hours, Stephen was taught the fundamental basics of reading and understanding letters.

By the time he made it back into bed, he was so tired he didn't even attempt to read his book.

* * *

However, where Stephen was tired, Quasar was energetic.

With a face of angered determination, she stared mindlessly into the screen of DDR again, mastering all of the songs, again, on the absolute hardest mode.

Her feet were blurs, and there were times when she would have to glance down to make sure she knew what she was doing.

After this however, she stopped, and took a few steps off of the pad, and fell on her face again.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" She yelled to no one.

More aggravated than she'd ever been, she typed in a program into the computer, and walked out into the gym floor.

The whole room was covered in tiles, and all were flashing in faint colors.

She knew her game, they'd flash, and she'd have to tap them; all of them flashing to the beat of a song. It was similar to her father's DDR, but no screen visible.

Standing in the middle of her own arena, the song started, and she sang with it.** (A/N: Song: Senorita By: Jenny Rom.)**

"Tell me, if it's gonna be the same old story. You can't play with me this time, so take me. Cos' I wanna be your senorita." Quasar chanted with her feet fluttering across the room too quick to see.

"Don't go! Can't you see that I'm so hot for your love? Boy you gotta get the chance to try me. I'll be just for you la mas bonita." Quasar sang, almost angrily.

A bit more singing and dancing, and the lights just kept coming, making Quasar lead across the room at times, and didn't give her time to relax.

"I'll be your dancin' flower, dancin' flower, dancin', I'll be your dancin' senorita."

It seemed like the song went onwards throughout the night.

One this was for certain, Quasar was never tripping again.

* * *

**So yeah, Quasar is a grumpy, envious person, of everyone who has something she doesn't. Whether that is love, or the ability to walk, or a friend, she will get jealous. But, when she's happy, she'll be as crazy as XT will, I promise.**

**More coming soon...**


	12. Before the Party

**I love my 10 days off for Thanksgiving break! I feel so ALIVE! (If it weren't for Swimming, I'd jump up and do a jig, but alas, I am exhausted with aliveness and fatigue, weird how that works, I know...)**

**Ok, rather than listen to me monologue like Tails starts to in this chapter, here it is, another update!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was Friday, the day of the pool party, and everyone was in an uproar about it. Well, everyone who _wanted_ to be at Richard's house that was. Daisy felt a tad bit compelled as she was personally invited, so she planned on going, and she planned on having Brunis and herself partially ruining the party for Richard, which, to her, sounded terribly fun.

For the next hour though, the couple was fairly sad. Their last hour of the day was spent apart, and they always hated it when that happened.

Daisy was headed off to her AP Physics class, and Brunis was off to another class for Architecture. Daisy was well tutored as Tails' foster daughter, but, she didn't have any of his brains, so she still had a hard time keeping her grades above B's.

Brunis, however, wasn't as concerned with his GPA, he just went to school to learn as much as he could. He wasn't the most brilliant of minds, that was certain, but he had a knack for the classes he had asked to get into; architecture, trigonometry, and, oddly enough, poetry.

Most of the other classes he struggled in, but he throve in these ones.

Unfortunately for Daisy, Richard was spending time with her in her AP Physics class, and she knew he was going to be sitting next to her.

"Hello my Queen." The words were daggers in her earbuds.

"Hello Richard." She said, tired and almost disgusted.

"So, will I see you at my party this afternoon?" He asked sincerely.

"Yes, I will be coming."

"Alone? Or with the mutt?" Daisy sighed angrily.

"Treat him better Richard, he's the only one in this school that doesn't want me for my body. I love him."

Richard's face looked like he had just got an icicle stabbed into his chest.

"I see. Well, I'll take it that the dog, not a mutt," he amended, "will be coming with you."

Daisy rolled her eyes, swearing she'd get back at him later for this.

"Yes, Brunis will be with me."

"Hmm… well, I hope he knows how to swim." Richard smirked, and took a seat next to Daisy.

It didn't take long for Richard to start sexually harassing Daisy. In a few minutes, his tail was already sneaking over Daisy's back, caressing her side.

"Richard…" She whispered, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"What?" He asked in the same low voice.

"Stop." And Richard's tail stopped, but didn't retreat.

They were both in the back, and far from the teacher, so, no one was going to see anything.

A minute later, Richard's tail began to move again, slowly creeping its way around Daisy's waist, and towards her groin.

"Richard, I swear, if that thing touches anything down there, I am going to bite your tail as if I were a carnivore." Daisy threatened, pushing the tail away.

Richard sighed angrily, and then dropped a pencil, probably purposely.

Bending over to get it, his tail was repositioned, and landed right in the spot between Daisy's legs. Daisy instinctively jumped, and blushed a bit.

"Richard!" She yelped, grabbing his tail and chomping on it as hard as she could.

"Daisy! What are you doing to Richard?" The teacher yelled. **(A/N: Poor Daisy, lol, getting in trouble for defending herself.)**

"He was… may I be excused?" Daisy asked, knowing she couldn't accuse Richard of anything, as he was untouchable, and above the law for the most part.

"Fine Daisy…" The teacher replied, allowing Daisy to get up, her small bag of things at her side, and leave the room, curious eyes following her.

Walking swiftly to the bathroom, she held a hand to her head, sighing, wishing she could've strangled the spoiled, rich boy who just tried to play with her, again.

Standing in a stall in the bathroom, she held her face, and pulled out a small device, a cell phone, pink and flowery, which she was fine with.

She knew it was against the rules, but she didn't care, she wasn't interested in following the 'retarded' rules of the school anyways. **(A/N: Daisy's not an angel with the rules either. Everyone has their dark side, and when it comes to Love, well, for Daisy, THAT is first.)**

"Brunis?" She typed into the phone, "Can you meet me outside the school? I need some 'you' time really badly."

She knew Brunis well enough to know that he loved the term 'you' time. It basically was a time when she would just snuggle and cuddle with him, which, quite honestly, he loved dearly.

Daisy hastily left the bathroom, and Brunis was already outside the school, waiting for her.

"What happened Daisy? You don't ditch that often…"

"Richard happened Brunis… don't get mad, it won't help… he tried to… well, his tail was here on me." She placed a hand over her genitals, and then let it go quickly after.

Brunis just kissed her, and let her lean backwards as he held her.

"Better?" The football player shaped wolf asked politely.

"Follow quickly Brunis." Daisy's hands left Brunis's neck as she sped off, and he gleefully followed as she took him to a side of the building for some alone time.

Quasar caught them with her eyes, and was jealous.

"Those kids… grr… I should turn them in… but if it was me… well, I'd blast the crap out of the principal… wait… he's my boss… I can't let Daisy do that… hmm… I won't turn her in then…" Quasar left herself to ponder as she loosely governed the game of ullamaliztli happening in her court with her seniors. "Hey!" She barked into the speakers, "I see that Mr. Gaara! No throwing the heavy rubber balls at people's faces! No, I don't care if she said she likes them in her face…" The kid looked up and said something in response, "well guess what Brian, I'm sure that our little Carmen here would prefer any balls over the ones your thinking about putting near her face." Quasar watched as the class laughed hysterically, and then watched as the kid ran away. "That's right twerp," She mumbled out of the speaker, with a lot of sass, "I said it." **(A/N: And Brian, [NOT Brian Prower, Brian Garaa] stop harassing Carmen, she doesn't like you man, and she won't sleep with you either, get used to it. I know, I am so mean, but, hey, I said it, didn't I?)**

* * *

In Sarah and Stephen's class, it was story time.

"C'mon kids, gather round, and I'll read you all a little story!" Mrs. Beaver announced, watching the little fifth graders rush towards the mat that she'd read to them on.

All but one did.

Stephen stayed at the bean bag, reading, of all things, the dictionary.

"Stephen, don't you want to read with us?"

"Can I read this red book? It has new words that I want to look at…"

"Ok…" Mrs. Beaver was shocked at this.

Sarah looked at Stephen dumbly, like he was taking this a bit too seriously.

"Stephen, come on, do you want to read with us?"

Stephen thought about it for a bit, but his mind was fixed.

"No. I want to learn how to read, and then…" Stephen's mind raced. Why did he want to read so badly? "Well, I can show off about it, and people won't make fun of me."

"Stephen…" Sarah cooed faintly, feeling sympathetic, "d-do you want to impress me with reading?"

"Impress?" Stephen whizzed through the dictionary, and in record time looked up the word. Reading it under his breath, he thought a bit, "impress; affect or please someone greatly… to have a strong, usually favorable effect on the mind or feelings of somebody… that means… to make someone feel better about me, isn't it?"

"Kind of Stephen."

"Then yeah!" He said proudly.

"Oh Stephen, just read with us, ok? You can read words in the dictionary later."

"Ok!" He closed the book, and followed Sarah to the mat where Mrs. Beaver was telling the fantastic story of a magical castle that flew in the sky, and contained treasures that everyone wanted, and how a young boy from a mining town, and a girl who was the princess of the castle, found it by using a magical stone, all while running away from the corrupt military, and pirates.

All and all, they were entranced by it, and when it was over, Stephen and Sarah, along with the rest of the class, was rushing around the room, playing make-believe about the wondrous castle of Laputa, the castle in the sky. **(A/N: Absolutely awesome movie! I REALLY suggest it to whoever wants to read it. When I typed this up, it WAS available to watch on youtube... And there will be a few references to that later on too.)**

"I get to be Dola!" One girl shouted, arguing with another girl.

"Ooh! Does that mean I can call you mom?" Another boy asked, obviously another one of the pirates.

"Yes." She answered.

"No," the other girl complained, "Call me captain!" She urged, and the class started laughing. It was a comical part in the story, so if anyone just walked by, they wouldn't have understood it at all.

Their games continued, but Stephen excluded himself from them to read.

"Levitate…" he muttered as he searched, a common word in that story, "To rise and float in the air, or to make something rise and float in the air, seemingly in defiance of gravity. Hmm… defiance…" flipping through the book, "open, bold, or hostile refusal to obey or conform. Oh, 'in defiance of' with complete disregard for a law, rule, or person in authority." Stephen just kept going, and Sarah looked at him.

She was starting to get a bit worried.

"Stephen, you really don't have to know all of that."

"But other people do, and I don't want to be a freak anymore."

"It is kind of freaky to be reading the dictionary Stephen."

"It is?" He asked, shocked.

"Yeah. Most people don't do that."

"Oh… but… it is so fun reading the words and learning them…"

Sarah put on a smug frown, trying not to disagree, but she found that very difficult.

_DING!_

"So Stephen," she said, changing the subject as he put down the book, "you ready for that pool party?" She said it almost sarcastically.

"Kind of… I wanna see what a pool really looks like!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"Well, we'll have to go home first, and make sure it's ok with my mom."

"Mrs. Rose… Yeah, ok!" Stephen smiled, holding Sarah's hand as they walked to the same spot they always met the rest of the gang to go home.

* * *

Brunis and Daisy, being the naughty, yet loving, teens they were, were just coming out from behind the school, Brunis's fur a bit wet from Daisy's kissing, and headed to the spot by the flagpole where they were to meet up with everyone.

"Daisy! Where've you been? We need you and Brunis to go home!" Brian complained

"We were… uh…" Brunis stumbled for the correct words.

"Enjoying some alone time."

"You guys were kissing again, weren't you?"

Brunis and Daisy blushed at Brian's comment.

"EWWWWW!" Sarah immediately called, rushing bolting around.

"Wanna race again?" Daisy said tauntingly.

Sarah smirked at her flowery foe, but then paused as she saw Stephen sitting near Daisy, with a sad look on his face.

"Yeah, totally." She said with confidence, bolting off with Daisy following afterwards.

Stephen fell to his knees again, looking at the space where Sarah left and looked as if to cry again.

"Sarah…" He moaned sadly.

The light blue blur shot back over to where Sarah was, and the girl smiled.

"Well, c'mon, I've got a race to win you know."

"Sarah!" Stephen cried out with glee as Sarah lifted him up onto her back, and spoke softly to him.

"Hold on Stephen, don't fall off." And then the world's colors started to shift.

"Wow…" Stephen said, his legs being held by Sarah, and his arms holding onto her opposite shoulder, pulling his head right next to hers.

Quasar, returning from her gym, not stumbling once this day, noticed Sarah and Stephen running after Daisy, and heard their thoughts, subconscious and conscious.

And to say the least, she was a bit jealous.

"That girl's so damn lucky…" Quasar grumbled, swearing was common in her vocabulary, "she gets to have a cute boy on her back, and his head next to hers, and she likes it, and he likes it… I want to have a cute robot boy to carry on my back at sonic speeds…" Quasar mindlessly grumbled. **(A/N: Whoever said it, that Quasar was acting like a teenager by getting angry and jealous over the silliest things, well, I'm emphasizing that, jealousy will be a driving factor in her personality from now on, lol.)**

And then, after passing Brunis and Brian on her way as a spider, she heard about the pool party.

"A pool party?" Quasar mentally deliberated for a moment, and then made her decision about it, "Well it isn't a party is I am not there! How DARE they not invite the coolest gym teacher alive to a pool party? I'll flunk them all! Muhohohohoho!" Quasar laughed as she sped off to the gym again to get some of her 'clothing' to dress up in. **(A/N: See what I mean?)**

* * *

By the time Sarah and Stephen made it back home, they had just passed Daisy, who looked at them like they were crazy, running like that.

"Hey mom!" Sarah called as she ran up to the door.

"Yes Sarah?" Amy replied sweetly, in her average pink dress.

"Can I go to a pool party with my friends?"

"Sure, why not? But, you really want to?"

"Yeah, I want to hang out with my friends, and besides, a rich kid is holding it, so I won't need to eat dinner here, and better yet, what if he has… chilidogs…"

Sonic appeared behind Amy; he definitely wasn't there before.

"Chilidogs? Where? Sarah? Do you have any?"

"Nope…" Sarah grumbled, Amy only laughed.

"Sure Sarah, you can go to a pool party." Amy answered, "Just be home before 9:00, ok?"

Sarah smiled, and ran upstairs to get some swimming attire on.

Stephen just walked inside, thinking about that amazing run he and Sarah had.

"Hmm…" He thought walking to Sarah's room, "why did I like that so much? I was just holding onto her as she ran… was it how close my face was to hers? Hmm…" Stephen didn't know enough about himself to really guess. He knew he liked being close to Sarah like that, and was overjoyed when she came back to get him. He felt very accepted, or appreciated, or something like that.

Not really thinking, he walking into Sarah's room, and paused in the doorway for a moment; eyes taking in what he saw as it happened.

The moment the door opened, Sarah held her hands over her upper chest and lower abdomen, concealing the undressed sections of her body.

Stephen's face turned red, embarrassed, as he had seen something prior to Sarah's knee-jerk reaction.

"STEPHEN! KNOCK FIRST!" Sarah yelled at him.

This time, Stephen shut the door quickly, looking into space at the wall. **(A/N: He took it a bit better this time... lol.)**

"Whoa… so THAT's why she wears stuff… I don't have anything like that, do I?" Stephen looked down, and everything was smooth and grey, just like the rest of his body. "Weird… she must be embarrassed that she lacks fur there, so she wears clothes to hide that area…" Stephen concluded.

He sat there, staring into the wall, reviewing the mental image frozen into his head.

"But she still looks pretty without it too. It isn't like her skin is ugly there… hmm…" He was still trying to figure it all out.

Sarah came out with a swimsuit on, green like her eyes, straps hanging from where it was tied together.

Stephen stared for a moment, looking at her dress, trying to comprehend the desire to look at her that he had.

"Stephen?" Sarah asked as his brow scrunched while staring at her.

"Sarah, you're really pretty." He said finally.

Sarah sighed and chuckled, thinking that he was going to say the opposite.

"But Stephen, do you see why I want you to knock first?"

"Kind of… but…" he started thinking as he walked with her out the door, her feet bare, and his not, "I don't see why you'd cover those patches of skin up. They weren't ugly… they were just as pretty as the clothes… but… why cover them?"

Sarah was baffled. Why did she cover them? She always had. That was why. And because she knew that looking at them made guys want to do mean stuff, usually. _But wait…_ She thought, _did Stephen just mean that my breasts looked good? I wonder if he has any idea what he just said…_

"Stephen, you said that those patched of skin looked good?"

"Well…" Stephen's cheeks became slightly red. _Why do I feel so weird?_ He thought before speaking, "kind of. They weren't ugly. And yeah they were pretty. Just like you in your new clothes." Stephen commented as nicely as possible.

_Wow… that's kind of nice of him… _Sarah bit her lip, thinking of what to say.

"We've got to go… Bye mom! Bye dad! I'm going to that party now with Stephen!" Sarah called, holding Stephen's hand and making a mad dash out the door to the Prower's house to get to the party.

* * *

At Tails' home, Daisy, Brian, and Brunis were getting ready for the swim.

Brunis and Brian weren't doing much, but Brian _was_ doing something to keep his hair, which was mangled with vines, safe from the chlorine.

But Daisy, well, she was going crazy.

She'd never gone swimming intentionally, and that meant she'd never had a swimsuit before. So, in short, she was running around the house like crazy trying to find an appropriate suit to wear, only finding that no one in the house before swam for fun either.

Her normal dress wasn't meant for the waters. When it was wet, it clung to her body like glue, and that was very agitating for a full body dress.

She considered ripping up one of her old ones into a suit, but then it would still be a bit see-through.

"Daisy," Tails said to his rampaging daughter, running around the room like a little blur.

"Daisy." He said again, calmly and coolly.

Daisy just kept running around screaming about her dress.

"DAISY!" Tails called, tripping his daughter with his foot.

Daisy fell face first into the ground, but was caught naught but a foot before her face smacked the floor by Brunis, who, as he always did, had a way of materializing right before Daisy got hurt.

"Whoa there! Listen to dad, ok?"

"Brunis, I'm not your father yet." Tails grumbled with a smile.

"Whatever… now what did you need Daisy for?" Brunis asked, helping his fiancée up.

"Daisy, come with me, Brunis, I'd prefer if you stayed here."

"Wha- Ok." Brunis replied obediently.

Tails took his daughter's hand and led her outside, towards their garage.

"Daisy, did I ever show you the whole garage?"

"Whole garage?" That was a no.

"Ah… ok, watch this my sweet daughter." Tails walked to a certain corner in the garage, and then tapped a few wrenches.

Suddenly, a panel on the other half of the room flipped open silently.

"What the hell?" Daisy followed her genius father to that half, and Tails placed his hand on the panel, typing in a password; Miles Prower.

"_First gate unlocked._" A small voice called from underneath them.

"This takes a while, but I have a lot of stuff down there… but, it is a good lock. Brunis knows the passwords too. I let him into my workshop frequently. Well… I take it back… he knows MOST of them. Not the secret ones."

_Secret ones? What the hell is my father? An evil genius? Well… maybe…_ Daisy smirked, and followed Tails into a small room that opened.

"Now, we go down. Step inside quickly!" He urged, tapping in a few more words into a keypad.

The room suddenly dropped, and feel a few stories, then reopened the doors to a massive metal hall.

"Whoa!" Daisy awed, her voice echoed about three times.

"17 years of boredom and tinkering and it still hasn't gotten big enough…" Tails commented, awing at his own grand workshop.

"YOU COULD HAVE LIKE 40 MALLS IN HERE!" Daisy shrieked.

"Well, it is like that, to an inventor like me. All of this is some form of technology."

"So wait, why the heck am I here?"

"Because clothing, when used properly and made properly, can be considered technology. Follow me." Her sly father ordered kindly as he stepped near a metal basket, meant for holding a single person up as they were transported around the place at high speeds.

"Wait, if I go in this," Daisy started as she hopped into the basket, "how will you get around?"

"I fly, of course." Tails hopped into the air using his tails as a propeller and began whirring around the room, the basket with Daisy following. "You see, when Brunis started to come down here to build things every so often, he needed to get around, and well, he's not too fast, and he can't fly, so I built this little trolley system for him.

"Why isn't he here with us then?"

"Well, first because then you can't be in the basket," Tails said, ducking under a mechanical arm, "and two because we're going somewhere I haven't shown him."

A few minutes later, Tails and Daisy arrived in another section of the workshop.

"Jeez… it is like a whole city down here…" Daisy sighed out in awe.

"And when you're working, playing for me, you really lose track of time. You see why I often forgot to pick you up?"

"You probably got lost…"

"Well, no, because I know this factory like the back of my own hand. But, we'll go with that." Tails smiled as he landed in front of a small room, closed with a door labeled 'I-178'.

"What's in there?"

"Type your name in on the panel, and you'll see." Tails backed up and let his daughter have her moment.

"'D-A-I-S-Y', uh dad, do I use my last name, or-" a loud creaking answered her.

The room was like none other Daisy had fathomed.

Dresses and gowns and bathing suits of all forms meant just for her. **(A/N: In my experience, that would basically save about... oh some hundred thousand dollars in clothing...)**

"I've had a machine make these as I monitored your size. They all fit, and are current as of… last week."

"DAD!" Daisy hugged Tails tightly, causing him to choke. "THIS IS AMAZING! I LOVE YOU!" She strangled him slowly as she went crazy.

"Mind you though, I said they were all technological in some way, correct? Some well… some are bullet proof, some have fire-retardant in them, some can't freeze. Some will make you really hot in the winter, some will allow you to jump higher, run faster, there's practically a dress for everything. I mean, I wouldn't just make like a thousand of the same old boring dress for you. Oh yeah, I did make different colors, and bathing suits for you."

"All just for me?"

"Cosmo's got her own store next door, but yeah. I figured one day, you might go on a trip or journey, so I kept them all ready." Tails sighed, letting his daughter look for the best one.

"Dad, I don't care what some of those idiot kids at my school say, you are the fricknig coolest anyone could ever have!"

Tails shrugged modestly. "I try."

Daisy ran off to pick one, but was troubled again.

"Are there any normal ones?"

"Well, you won't know the difference. But yes. A metal one, with the metal I use, won't hurt your skin, and it one be hard in any way, shape, or form. It will appear to the untrained eye as normal cloth. Oh, by the way, you'd look best in that blue one." Tails said as he wandered off for a moment.

Daisy just smiled and shook her head. Before, she had underappreciated Tails, but now, he was unbelievably amazing.

"Whoa… this wedding is going to be amazing…" Daisy said, imagining what her father could do for a wedding, it must be beyond belief.

She took the blue one, and ran back to the basket.

"Oh no, we're not going that way. I've got a better one." Tails hit a button on the basket, and Daisy was sent flying upwards.

Tails hopped into the basket, and grinned wickedly.

"DAD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She shrieked, rocketing upwards and then lurching to a halt.

"To the cannon!" Tails said with glee.

"C-cannon?"

"You know I like stunts and flying and wild thrill rides, this tops them all off. I built a miniature replica of the Sonic Driver and placed it in the center of my workshop. Cosmo and I used to have fun launching out of it before we had to worry about Brian and you so much…"

"I can't fly!" Daisy cried out to the madman that was her father.

"But you can fall slowly!" Tails smiled, as he and his daughter being loaded into the cannon.

"Oh dear…" Daisy sighed as she heard the sounds of gears and winches winding, grinding and pounding.

"Here it comes… one… two… three!" Just as three happened, nothing occurred.

"Oh thank heav-!" It was a dud, the two were shot out of the base with a bang, and appeared in the clouds about their house.

"Dad… I take it back… you're evil!" Daisy shook as she and her father slowly descended like they had parachutes on.

"Muhahahahaha!" Tails joke-laughed holding his daughter's hand as they fell.

"So that thing is just for fun?"

"Well, that's what I built it for, yes. All of my things were originally designed for extremes usually designed with fun in mind. Even my tools for beating the late Dr. Eggman, they were all built to make the task fun." Tails then added, "But, no, you could, if necessary, probably find a way to launch things out. It can aim, so it can be a weapon, but it also could be used for propelling one of my smaller vehicles out… assuming it could withstand the rapid acceleration of the cannon… but and most of the small craft I've built don't really have a good frame, and are rather flimsy and weak… not to mention any firing mechanisms on it… and the friction between the metals may result in overheating of both the cannon and the craft…"

Daisy toned him out for another minute, and then finally said something.

"Dad, you're monologizing again."

"Oops. We inventors do that a lot… heh heh…" Tails joked as their feet touched the ground. "Hey Daisy, have fun at your party. If you want, I can fly you all there."

"Ok, whatever. The Green Storm is ready for liftoff?" She joked.

"Of course! I'll get it started!" Tails whirled off to his pride and joy.

The Green Storm had become like his new Tornado. He still had that blue air hog, but it wasn't as nice and comfortable as the Green Storm; which was built mainly for transporting people and being fast, rather than a weapon.

* * *

Sarah and Stephen were sitting near the garage, hand in hand, right next to Brunis and Brian as Daisy ran into the house to get changed.

Brunis followed her, and left the three kids to themselves.

"Have you ever flown before, Sarah?" Brian asked her kindly.

"Once, with a robot…"

"Oh boy, it is so fun! And my dad is an awesome pilot, he likes doing stunts and stuff."

"Does his plane have enough room for all of us?" Stephen questioned, almost rudely with stepping into the conversation, Sarah kind of caught his eagerness to be involved.

"Yeah, my dad stored enough room on it for like… 12 people. Brunis and Daisy can sit in the front, and we can sit in the back." It was obvious he was ignoring Stephen as he was looking at Sarah.

For some reason, this act made Stephen fairly angry.

"Stephen, what happened to your eyes?" Sarah looked deeper into his usually grey eyes, and jumped as they became tinted with crimson.

"Nothing." He said flatly, and his eyes reverted to normal with a blink.

"Wow Daisy… I have nothing more to say…" Brunis was saying as he and Daisy walked out, Daisy in a blue swim suit.

"I know! My dad rocks at designing clothes!"

Tails held his head in his hand, sighing.

"You guys coming?" He asked as he hopped into the cockpit.

"Yeah!" They all cheered as they hopped into their seats.

It was exactly as Brian depicted; Brunis and Daisy sat in the front, and then the three youngsters sat in the back.

Brian originally sat next to Sarah, but when Stephen hopped in, he bumped him out of the way and sat next to Daisy, buckling himself there as if he was territorial over her; he was.

Sarah noted this, and began to think about Stephen as the ship rocketed towards Richard's Mansion.

* * *

**Oh, how cute, they don't even know what's going on...**

**Oh dear, what the heck am I going to call this chapter? It kind of sums up to 'Before the Party'... yeah... I'll go with that...**

**Well, see ya'll later.**

**More coming soon...**


	13. Crash

**FYI: I won't probably be updating anymore until the following Sunday (the Sunday AFTER this Sunday) because I have a lot of things coming to me, like, [insert drum roll here] the cousin creatures known as the Furtners. (THey're awesome people, but they will demand and absorb my attention like no other...)**

**So, yeah, but, in the mean time, another update!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

As the plane landed, and the group hopped out, Tails was wary.

This was Richard's house. The same boy that had mind controlled his daughter into almost losing her virginity. And now she was walking into the house as a guest. Of course he expected something, and he wasn't sure if it was the smartest move for his daughter to listen to her.

"Daisy, listen, if anything, and I mean ANYTHING goes wrong, or you want to go home, just hit that button on your phone, and I swear, I will be here faster than Richard can reach over to touch you."

"Are you sure your plane is that fast?"

That didn't exactly fill him with confidence.

"Besides dad, I have Brunis here, Richard won't touch me."

"I know… but… be careful…" He said, obviously worried.

As the little kids came out, Tails, Brunis, and Daisy all helping out Stephen, Brian, and Sarah respectively, Tails noticed something.

"Stephen," he asked, setting him down, noting his shoes which no one else had on, "do you want me to take your shoes?"

"What shoes Mr. Prower?" Stephen asked.

"Those ones-" Tails looked at his feet; his _bare _feet. Where did your shoes go?"

"Mr. Prower? _What_ shoes? I haven't ever worn a shoe, have I?"

"You were wearing shoes when I first saw you…"

"I've always gone around in my bare feet." He argued.

"No you didn't. Don't even toy with me Stephen, I KNOW you had shoes on."

"Can I please go to the pool?"

Tails released him, and then looked into his plane as they left.

Sure enough, a small, muddy shoe print was there where Stephen stepped on the seat; a _shoe_print.

"Where'd he put his shoes?" Tails searched his plane, they weren't anywhere. "I swear Stephen, if I start flying, and a pair of shoes jumps out of my dash board, I am going to strangle you…" He muttered as he flew off in his plane.

* * *

Richard sat in his 'throne room', in other words, his second bedroom, complete with a monitor hooked into his security system from which he could remotely check everything that happened in his domain; bedroom and beyond.

He watched as Daisy's plane left, and then watched her walk in.

"Ah my Queen, you have arrived… now to get the bait…" He reread the instructions over the bottle he had received from Dr. Damian, and applied it carefully.

There were about 500 kids at his pool, which his pool, being a massive water feature, was more than capable of holding.

Speakers were present, playing music that reminded one of the beach, and monitors watched from all over, hidden in the jungle trees that adorned his crystal-blue pool.

Along with the patio, set out to party right now, this party was going to be great.

Out of the 500 kids, about 300 of them were girls, and of them, 200 were presumed single, and out of that, 175 looked great in a swimsuit, but out of all, only one was fit for Richard, and that was Daisy. And Richard was so sure he was going to have her today that he bought her a present for when she accepted him as her boyfriend, a nice new red convertible.

"Ah yes…" he sprayed himself with some perfumes, "Daisy's all mine… all mine…" He smiled in his thought train, and then walked out to greet his guests.

* * *

Stephen and Sarah held hands at the amazing sight before them.

Pools. Water. About three second's worth of running for Sarah to get to the end.

On one end, a deeper section near the patio, a vast water slide network climbed the wall and slid into the pool, and nearby, diving boards and high-dives.

A dancing arena was present, and food was near that.

"Whoa! THIS IS AWESOME!" Sarah and Stephen exclaimed at the same exact time.

Sarah ran him off to the shallow end, where the water was only a few inches deep, and there were fountains and weird water contraptions that dumped water over people's heads and water cannons were present.

"I'm going to get you, Sarah!" Stephen declared as he started aiming the cannon.

"Catch me first, Stephen!" She cackled, ripping the water up a good three feet wherever she ran.

Brunis and Daisy, merrily holding hands, walked around, touring the party.

"Daisy, you look lovely." He gently kissed her on the lips.

"Brunis?" She asked, catching a hint of buttering up in his words and spontaneity. "What are you up to?"

"Oh nothing… but we're so going down that top slide together."

"No." Brunis just smiled in her face. "No. Absolutely not. No way."

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" He picked her up bridal style, giving her no choice, and ran up the ladder to the top.

"BRUNIS!" She shrieked playfully, making it more of a deal than it was.

"Hahaha!" He laughed as he brought her into the top of the slide that was at least 100 feet of steep spirals.

"BRUNIS!" She yelped again, partially laughing.

* * *

Richard only heard her scream, and that was enough for him to get angry. **(A/N: So yeah, he THINKS he's a better choice than Brunis, and that Brunis is the villain for taknig her from him. Kind of messed up to me...)**

The moment he stepped on deck, all of the eyes of the girls were on him. Girlfriends to other boyfriends too, including a certain Iris. **(A/N: Remember this couple? They have appeared in three of these stories now, lol.)**

"Iris?" Jake said calmly, trying to look into her eyes.

Iris looked away, and at Richard.

"Iris?" He pressed again.

"Oh Sorry Jake." She glanced at him, and then looked back at Richard.

"Do you like him or something?"

"I… no. Not at all. But…" She looked at him again, "I have a burning desire to throw myself at his feet…" She felt so stupid saying it, but then when another girl did just that and then another, and another, and then most of the girls were doing the same thing, Iris broke free of Jake's gentle hug, and pounced at Richard.

Jake looked at the scene in utter horror. They'd been together for years, seven about, and they never questioned their love, and they were sure it was never going to end, ever. Yet here she was, jumping into another man's arms for no reason whatsoever.

Jake walked away slowly glancing over his shoulder occasionally, hoping that Iris would look at him pleadingly, she never did, it was like he never existed.

* * *

Daisy and Brunis emerged from the water to see an angry Richard staring at them, and a bunch of girls surrounding him.

"Here Daisy, let me help you off of that mongrel who made you scream." Holding his hand out for Daisy, Richard put a small smile on.

"Do you smell that?" Daisy sniffed the air, and then at Richard.

"I put on a new perfume," he answered truthfully.

"It's not that bad… just a bit… weird…" she shivered, but didn't take his hand.

Daisy looked into Richard's eyes a bit differently, and Richard got hopeful, but then Brunis swam her away.

Angered, Richard went back to mingling around the eager girls.

* * *

Quasar popped her head out of the bushes near Richard's house.

"Target, 12:00." Then she ducked down slowly, and then jumped out with a great leap, showing off her cute little pink swimsuit, like she actually needed it.

Then, she heard something a guy crying.

"Eto?" A common phrase asking for clarification in Rinocian came from her lips. **(A/N: Ok, whereas most of the stuff that comes out of my Rinocian language, this, along with one other phrase, remain consistent. "Eto" basically means: "Say again?" or, "What?" or, "Huh?" And then, bear with me it is hard to pronounce, "Vas eet tsu nei" is how it is pronounced, and I have yet to see how to officially spell it. But that basically is used for "What the hell?" And "What's going on here?" I know, I'm weird... sorry for that... continue...)**

"Who's there?" the voice sniffled.

"THE Ms. Q. Why?" Quasar announced boisterously.

"Please Ms. Q, leave me alone… I need time alone."

Quasar wasn't going to let him have it.

"What's your name?" She asked as she peeked through the brush to see him.

"Jake."

"And what's your problem?" She was rather rude with her questioning.

"Richard." Jake growled with his teeth clenched tighter than his fist.

"Oh? How so?"

"He took my girlfriend… my love… the love of all my life."

"Oh sob sob, such a touching story," Quasar nearly mocked him, "if she was such a good girlfriend, why did she leave?"

"I don't know… our love was unshakable forever… but… now… she just jumped, literally jumped, to Richard… what does he have that I don't?"

Quasar made a sniffing noise.

"That smell. Can you smell it? That's what he has. I'll betcha that he is the source… oh that's damn hot…" Quasar's metal frame quivered. "REALLY hot… hotter than me- nope, not at all." She ammended herself.

She looked at the sobbing boy, and then probed his mind for a picture of his girlfriend. It wasn't hard.

"Oh my… well, can I have a lock of your hair?"

"Why?"

"Why? Why! Because I think you're totally cute and want to add this piece of hair to the shrine I have of you. Does it fricking matter?" She said impatiently, taking his hair anyways and then running away with it, storing her swimsuit in a compartment for later.

She morphed into a spider and ran off into the crowd.

"Oh, that smell! There are SO many hormones in it!" Quasar smelled it like a drug, not getting enough.

Running through the crowd, she found Iris in a pool of girls, partially literally, swarming Richard, the heart of the scent.

She latched herself onto the girl's leg, and injected the potion she'd been making sense stealing Jake's hair, and then unlatched herself, and sat on Iris's wrist.

"You ok, Iris?"

"What happened? I feel funny…"

"Well, to be honest, I just added a hell of a lot of hormones to your system, and presently, Richard is messing with them, making you like him."

"Richard? Where's… Jake?" She had to think to recall his name.

"Follow me." Quasar hopped off and skittered to the forest.

"He's outside of the forest?"

"Yeah, you made him cry."

"JAKE!" She called loudly, worried for him.

"What do you want? Wouldn't you rather hang out with Richard?" Jake sobbed, he was very sensitive on the inside.

"No, I'd rather…" Quasar zapped her with her pink, low frequency beam.

"Booyah! She muttered, as Iris began to react a bit strangely.

Iris cringed on Jake's lap, frozen and shaking.

"Iris? Are you ok?"

"I'd rather…" She groaned, and then looked up, her eyes slightly pink, "stay with you forever unto eternity." She leapt onto him, and started kissing him wildly.

"Do you want her to stop?" Quasar asked.

"Are you controlling her?"

"No, but I am triggering an 'I love you' frenzy in her. Do you want to know what she wants right now? I can read her mind."

"Maybe…"

"She basically wants to sleep with you. Like, that's probably what she meant by 'with you for eternity'."

"Hmm… I said no, not until we were out of school a while back, I'll stay true to that."

"So do you want her frenzy to stop?"

"Perhaps…" Jake answered modestly.

Quasar's eye twitched, and Iris lay over Jake with her normal eyes.

"I'm sorry…" She blushed wildly, "I don't know what came over me… I lost my judgment and just… I'm sorry…"

"Don't be…" Jake kissed her lightly, and she deepened it.

"You taste _really_ good right now."

"You taste just as sweet as ever." Jake countered.

Quasar left the two virgins in the forest together, impressed with their control.

* * *

Sarah and Stephen, now very tired of chasing each other in the pool and splashing each other with water and other strange water devices, started to wander over to the food section, with bellies aching.

"I'm so hungry… I hope he has good food…" Sarah groaned.

"Yeah, me too." Stephen mimicked the noise.

Going up to the not-so-crowded food lines, and there was a lot of them, Sarah and Stephen found the biggest supply of junk food known to mankind and animals alike; hotdogs, fries, burgers, chips, Sarah's favorite, chilidogs, and on a few later plates, sugary deserts.

Stephen bolted it to the sugar first. He had had chocolate at Sarah's house before, and he knew the smell well.

"Chocolate Sarah!" He yelped.

Sarah grabbed him and dragged him into the chilidog lane.

"You're trying one of these, they're the best." Sarah threw a chilidog in Stephen's face.

Eating it, his face was just a notch over satisfied.

"YOU DON'T LOVE IT?! Give me yours."

"Sugar Sarah! I want my sugary chocolate!" Stephen ran off, given Sarah her chilidogs, and then, she looked for Stephen, he seemingly disappeared.

Not wanting to disrupt any fun, but not wanting to lose her friend, she started looking for him, wandering around towards the pool to see if he escaped there.

* * *

Quasar, upon passing the dancing arena, had become intrigued.

"I wanna do that. How do you do that?" She asked a couple of kids that were dancing, Quasar was now in her little swim suit.

"Ms. Q? You don't know how to dance?"

"Teach me, or I'll flunk you." She demanded.

"It's really not that hard, you just move your body with the beat, in any way you really see fit." The student told her.

Quasar stood in the dancing floor, looking at the kids move their bodies, and started to move too, mimicking them.

"Weird… this isn't easy!" She complained, losing her balance, and struggling to stay upright.

"Try again, you'll get it sooner or later."

So Quasar began to learn to dance, fueled to be better than everyone else.

* * *

Brunis and daisy were swimming together in the pool for a bit, Richard, along with his troupe of women fawning over him.

_Why isn't it working?_ He mentally growled, and then continued to watch Brunis and Daisy swim together.

"Daisy, he's watching us again…" Brunis complained, feeling unnerved.

"Don't worry about it. He'll just have to- what in the heck is the _smell_? It is just too sweet! WAY too sweet! It hurts my senses!"Daisy rubbed her face with the chlorinated water.

Together, they swam a bit too close to the edge, and then Richardsnapped, and snatched Daisy out of the water, kissing her deeply.

"It doesn't affect you at all?!" He roared, grabbing her wrist and running off a sea of girls following, knocking all down in their path.

* * *

Sarah was overlooking the edge of the pool, too concentrated in her thoughts and vision to focus on smell, so when Richard ran passed her, all she did was glance.

And then she was shoved into the pool by the girls following Richard, and then the guys following their girls.

Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem. But, Sarah was in the deep end. And she had no idea how to swim.

Struggling to stay above the water, she cried for help, but no one was nearby.

Slowly, she started to sink to the bottom of the pool.

"WEEEE!" Stephen cried as he splashed into the water from the water slide.

Underwater, he saw the light blue hedgehog sinking on the bottom of the twenty feet deep waters.

"Sarah!" He yelled, losing his air.

Jumping up for a breath, he started swimming back down for her, his feet becoming elongated, and arms becoming wider and fin-like. In no time at all, he darted into the depths and grabbed Sarah, and then rose to the surface, at the shallow end of the pool, over 100 yards away, in a few seconds.

"Sarah! Sarah!" He hit her chest a few times, and then pushed down really hard, making her spit up a lot of water, and then a few bits of not-yet-swallowed chilidog.

She coughed once more, and then opened her eyes.

"Stephen?" Blinking again, her vision became clearer. "STEPHEN!" She was overjoyed. "You just saved my life…" Sarah leapt up and hugged Stephen, not wanting to let go for that moment. "Thank you…"

"Why were you sinking? I had no problem swimming to get you."

"I don't know how to swim…" Sarah sighed shakily.

"I'll show you!" Stephen led her to a deeper depth until the water was up to their necks.

"Stephen… I really don't want to…"

"C'mon it is fun. Watch!" Stephen dove under the water, and his fins appeared again.

In a few moments, he was swimming circles around her.

The moment he surfaced, Sarah looked at him change.

"Stephen, you grew fins when you went underwater. That's like… cheap." Sha was both shocked and annoyed, she should have expected it from Stephen.

"I didn't!" Stephen argued.

Sarah grabbed his head and pulled him under with him, holding his hand in hers and in front of their faces.

She pointed to the fin growing off of his hand, and he looked at himself.

They surfaced moments later.

"You see?" She told him.

"Weird… I must be magical like Laputa!" He stated, smiling widely. **(A/N: I told you there were more references...)**

"Stephen… let's just lie back in the shallow end, ok?"

From the looks of it, Brian was off going off of the slide over and over again, never getting bored.

* * *

Daisy was pulled up against the side of the mansion, and kissed again and again by Richard.

"Why." Another kiss, "Won't." And another, "You." Another, "Fall?" And then a few more.

"Get off of me!" Daisy pushed him to the ground.

"WHY? I put on a near magical potion designed to get girls to like me, and you don't get affected at all! YOU COMPLAIN YOUR NOSE HURTS!"

"I'm not like the creatures of this world, remember?"

"STILL! WHY WON'T YOU FALL! I HAVE MONEY, LAND, AND LOOKS! WHY NOT ME?!"

"Because, Richard," she wasn't going to hold anything back this time, "I hate your personality. You are a snobby, stuck up little rich boy who always got what he wanted, whenever he wanted, and you break down when you can't have me. Get used to it, I will never be yours. I love Brunis, not you. He is sweet, and kind, and actually cares for me. I love him more than I could ever truly love you."

The guys and girl's around them gasped, it was a total rejection.

"No! You don't love Brunis. You'll love me! You got that?" Richard leaned in and kissed Daisy deeply, pressing his body against hers, and slowly lifting his hands to her breasts.

_ZAP! _**(A/N: Tails make some of the best clothing... lol.)**

"OW!" Richard fell backwards holding his hands, both throbbing. "WHAT'S IN THAT BIKINI?!"

"Hmm… Richard Repellent, obviously."

"WHY? HOW CAN YOU LOVE BRUNIS!?" He moaned again, now he was just pathetic.

Brunis came next to her side, standing over Richard like a menace.

"I got this Brunis, no need to beat him. Because, Richard, he was there for me emotionally for problems that _weren't_ started by himself. Maybe he did run away after awhile, but that was because he was scared. Now he's back, and after missing him like the very air I breathe, I'm engaged."

Everyone gasped. And for the first time, Brunis and Daisy realized they never made that public.

"EN-EN-ENGA-GAGED? NO!" Richard ran away as soon as he could, before he started crying more.

The girls and guys followed him.

"I really hurt that kid." Daisy sighed. "Well, he had that coming. Trying to molest me all of those times…"

Brunis nodded in agreement.

"Let's get Sarah, Stephen, and Brian." He suggested.

Daisy was already leading him to the pool.

* * *

"Oh yeah! I am the Queen of Dance!" Quasar declared as she moved her body like a pro around the field to Aqua's 'Barbie Girl' song.

"I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world, life's fantastic, made of plastic! I swear I could do this all day!" Quasar clapped excitedly, beating out any competition in her pink bikini.

"Where're you all going?"

"Home…" Was the reply.

"Chickens! No one has the feet to beat THE Ms. Q, Q is for Queen AND Quasar! What! Beat it!" Quasar kept dancing furiously.

As the music cut off, Richard announced the end of the party.

"Well that sucks! Hey… what's that? A door? Opened for me? How kind of him! I always wanted to go back in; NOT."

Quasar wandered over to the door, and peered inside.

And there it was; a red convertible, with nice leather interior.

"Oh baby! That thing's SWEET!"

On it, a big note was present.

"_To my love, Daisy Prower, my future wife and always my Queen._" It was fairly unromantic as a gift.

"Well, I'm EVERYONE's Queen, so OBVIOUSLY he's talking to me." She said as she lasered out Daisy's name on it with her finger.

Quasar looked around, glancing over her shoulders, and noticed something, the key was in the ignition.

Another thing she noticed, the license plate.

"Cutiepi."

"CUTIEPIE! I AM THE CUTEST THING IN EXISTENCE! OF COURSE IT WAS FOR ME! I call driver's!" Quasar hopped into the seat, and revved the engine. "Oh how she purrs. GO!"

Quasar floored it and ripped onto the road, making her way back to her home, not the gym.

"Mine! All mine! Muhohohohohohoho!" Quasar cackled as she ran off with her goods.

* * *

**So yeah, Quasar's a kleptomaniac who is super egotistical. What else is new? Oh yeah... Sarah almost died, and was saved by Stephen, how cute.**

**Well, I've got a lot to do, so... see ya'll next time.**

**More coming soon...**


	14. Phobia

**Ok, I lied, THIS is the last update I give for a while, lol.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Tails arrived seconds after Daisy hit the button in his plane.

"Ok! Tell me now! What did he do? Where'd he go? I'll kill him." Tails said protectively.

"Not you too… Dad, he only forcefully kissed me. He's done worse, and come close to the worst. I just wanted to go home now…" Daisy responded, cut off by a massive hug from her vulpine father.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again! I'm never going to let you go to Richard's again, ok? No bribery at all!" Tails dictated.

"Don't worry. I told him of our engagement, and well, he flipped. You should've seen his face, it was, well, classic."

"Hmm…" Tails thought aloud, turning to the younger kids. "How was it? Fun?" He smiled.

"Yeah! It was AWESOME!" Brian replied instantly.

"Was it, Sarah and Stephen?"

"Yes… Stephen saved me from drowning!"

"You-you drowned?"

"I was pushed into the deep end… and I didn't know how to swim… but Stephen saved me from the water… he grew fins and swam REALLY fast!" She commended enthusiastically.

Tails listened intently, eager to know more about Stephen.

* * *

Richard sat in his room, staring the face of the computer down, not reading it. He was beyond depressed at that moment, and his insides were burning up with a storm of emotion; sadness for being rejected; anger for being beat by Brunis; shock for their engagement; and yet, no happiness; only the thrill of making both of their lives so miserable, that Daisy wouldn't have anything left but the offers from Richard.

He'd ruin their lives, and then Brunis would have to leave Daisy because of her economic status, and then he'd take her for himself.

"I will sue that family for all they've got, and GUN will support me, they want his fabled workshop. Then I'll arrest Brunis for assaulting me. And then I'll marry Daisy myself! She will be mine… I SWEAR IT!"

Richard exploded with ideas now, and called up GUN and his parents, organizing a plot to take the Prower family to court.

By high-noon tomorrow, Miles 'Tails' Prower, along with his horrible wife, would have all of their property foreclosed, and would be legally homeless.

* * *

"So you say that you can grow fins in the water Stephen?" Tails asked, very curious of this already enigmatic boy.

"Yeah! It happens when I put my head under." He said happily, sitting next to Sarah in the plane.

"Do you mind if I test this out on you?"

"Um… what?"

"You can come into my lab, and I can test out what you can do. Like, see if you do it subconsciously, and if it has a time limit or something. What if you could breath underwater too? Wouldn't that be cool?" Tails buttered it up, making the boring test work, to anyone else, sound fun.

"Sure." Stephen said calmly as the group hopped out of the plane.

"See you later Stephen?" Sarah implied a desire to be with him, wanting to be near her little grey savior.

"Yeah, after I get tested." He replied.

Brian, Daisy, and Brunis all ran off to their rooms, it was getting late, and they wanted to go to bed early, or at least, be in bed.

Tails and Stephen walked into the house for a moment, Tails getting a blindfold for Stephen as he didn't want anyone to remember going in there if they weren't a super close friend, and he still couldn't be too sure about this strange boy yet.

"Hello Tails!" Cosmo greeted her husband warmly, hugging him and kissing him.

As usual, his tails wrapped around her and he let her drop backwards a bit as he kissed.

Stephen saw this, and registered it in his mind; _you can't want someone else's girlfriend or boyfriend. I shouldn't think she's pretty… that's Tails job… not mine… hmm._ He thought hard, it was a concept that was difficult to grasp, but after seeing Brunis and Daisy, _and_ Tails and Cosmo, _and_ Sonic and Amy, it kind of clicked. He didn't fit into those kisses and hugs and sweet whispers in their ears.

That made him kind of feel lonely; he _did_ want to do that, it looked fun.

"C'mon Stephen, I need to have you blindfolded."

"Why?" His reaction was reasonable.

"Because I am taking you to a secret place, and no one must know where it is." The wise, tricky fox replied.

Blinding Stephen with a cloth, he led him into the garage and quickly ran about typing in passwords and codes, the door, soon after, clicked open.

"Now no peeking until we get into lab, ok?" Tails instructed as they descended into the workshop.

The moment they arrived, Tails picked Stephen up, and flew him over to a random, or not so random, section of the metallic wonder.

_He's really lightweight… and his skin isn't normal flesh or fur… I wonder what he is…_ Tails' methodically curious mind began questioning.

"Ok, you can take your blindfold off, we're here." Tails walked over to the door and placed his arm in a socket; the door whirred to life and slowly opened.

Stephen's eyes looked at the machinery with an unknown expression. They were wide, very wide, too wide, and his pupils seemed to dilate, closing from the brightness.

"Stephen? Come on in, we need to do some tests." Tails grabbed Stephen's hand and started walking him into the laboratory, towards a big room with a vast array of intimidating machines.

Stephen was silent, and almost unwilling to move.

The moment Tails stopped, and let go of his hand, Stephen placed them at his sides quickly, and stared blankly into space.

Tails got a few cables, and started walking to Stephen.

"Ok, now I need to put these on you."

The moment Tails got to close, Stephen took a step back, shaking his head. His breathing skyrocketed, and he began to hyperventilate.

"Stephen? I'm not going to hurt you; I just need you to take a test, that's all."

Stephen backed away again, shrinking back, staring at the technology with horror.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." Tails stared him down for a moment, and then it started building up.

Tails curiosity was getting the better of him.

Dying to know the secrets of Stephen, Tails dove at him, trying to get a reading of his vitals, and Stephen had a spaz attack.

Sinking backwards, he became a small puddle of himself, and then Tails fell flat into the ground.

"Stephen!" He growled, getting up as Stephen turned into a ball from his puddle and started rolling away sluggishly.

Tails got out a claw from the ceiling, controlling it with his watch.

"You can't run away Stephen; I can't let you do that. Just one quick test and I will let you go, ok? I don't want to hurt you." He really didn't, but he _had_ to know Stephen's secret powers.

Stephen then leapt from the ball, and began running on all fours, his once gloved hands grew in size to become more like paws, and he ran like crazy around the halls.

It was then that Tails wished he was for building robots. He never was for artificial intelligence, so he stayed away from it, and built the base himself using his own, manual tools. So, using this claw, linked to his watch, he flew around the workshop trying desperately to catch the rampaging Stephen; even if Tails himself was on a rampage.

"C'mon Stephen, don't be afraid!" Tails tried to comfort, running around the base like a madman with Stephen, trying to nab him with the claw.

Eventually, after Stephen's paw-hands became spiky, and he began to crawl up the walls, Tails got him.

The metal claw, meant for handling heavy metal slabs pinched Stephen's skin, and pulled him. But Stephen didn't budge from the wall or his climbing. His skin was torn off of him, only about a section smaller than a square inch.

"OW!" He yelped, but kept climbing, he was truly petrified of Tails; or was it his lab?

"Stephen! Come back!" Tails called, but Stephen already made it into the mini-Sonic Driver, and climbed through the tube, leading outwards through a camouflaged exit.

Tails let him be, and then looked at the skin he got from him.

It was covered in a silvery blood, and was small and very stretchy.

"This will do just fine…" Tails said mournfully, realizing what an idiot he was. The kid must have had some problems with GUN before or something.

"Oh Tails… you dummy…" He whacked his head the moment he placed the sample of Stephen in one of his huge machines. Then he moaned realizing he got the silver blood on his fur.

Glumly and sympathetically, he made his way out of the workshop, and back into his official home.

* * *

Stephen appeared in a forest and started running again. It was his first instinct, run away from the pain. He forgot who Tails was, he forgot Sarah, and everyone else and just ran, as fast as he could until he made it to somewhere he knew was safe.

* * *

Sarah sat in her bed, worried about Stephen.

_Why isn't he back yet? Surely Mr. Prower didn't need him that badly…_

She got up, and walked to her parent's room.

"Where's Stephen dad?" She asked; maybe they knew.

"I don't know. Do you want to go to Tails' house to see?" Amy answered, she and Sonic were very tired, they both got their jobs and were still adjusting to the laborious energy loss that came with the daily schedule.

"Ok… I'll be back as soon as I can be…" Sarah replied, a worried look on her face.

"You know," Amy said to her husband as she sat in bed with Sarah away, "I think she's starting to like that Stephen boy."

"Of course she likes him; she's like his mother."

"No you dummy!" Amy hit him on the head lightly, "_like_ like, like, you know, _that_ like; love like."

"Wow, could we possibly say 'like' like one more time?" Sonic teased.

"Like totally!" Amy played along, and the two continued saying 'like' for like, another hour.

* * *

Sarah walked in with unease to the Prower residence. Immediately she found action.

"I feel so terrible! I let my curiosity get to me… I completely frightened him…" Tails complained as Cosmo tended to the blood on his head.

"Now, now, I know you can get scary when you're on a rampage, but surely you're exaggerating this."

"No, Cosmo, I'm not. I _hurt_ him this time. I was so eager to figure that boy out I actually hurt him trying to get him to cooperate. That's what's being tested right now… a small piece of his skin. This is his blood you're treating, not some residue from a machine I built." Tails snapped, feeling terrible.

Cosmo understood, and felt terrible with him.

"Where is Stephen?" Sarah came in, perturbing on their moment.

"I'm sorry Sarah… I'm so sorry."

"Did you kill him?"

Tails partially chuckled.

"No… but I accidentally hurt him, and scared him away… he ran away, ad out of my workshop… he's an incredible person though… capable of almost anything… he might be dangerous though Sarah. You'd best give him some time to-"

Sarah was already gone.

"She's so protective of him… I can feel it almost. It's really quite cute though, you know?" Cosmo smiled.

Tails held his head to his hands and took in a shaky breath.

"Stephen… I only wish you could hear how sorry I am… Oh… dear… Cosmo… I think I need a minute alone…" Tails left the room and Cosmo obediently waited for him to come back. One of her defining qualities was the will to make others feel better, and when Tails said he wanted some alone time, she let him, as she knew it would help him later, and secretly, she knew how much friendly and willing to be loved he was afterwards.

* * *

Sarah raced in her mind to think of where Stephen would go, and only one thing came into her mind; that weird clearing that she and he met up before it rained.

If she found Stephen, she would later kick Mr. Prower in the shin for hurting her friend, accident or not.

"STEPHEN!" She yelled, trying to find him as she raced to that field by the forest and the hills.

Way in the distance, she heard a faint crying noise.

"STEPHEN!" She called again, hoping for a reply. Her feet were literally blurs as she ran to where she thought he'd be.

"Stephen…" She said again, looking at him, with sympathy and pity.

He was there, on a small hill, sprawled out, crying and sobbing his eyes out. He wasn't as he normally was though; it was like he was over stretched. His limbs were about three times as long, and his body was flat, everything was, except for his face, which had a bit more depth to it.

A small patch of skin on his right shoulder was missing.

"Stephen, Stephen, don't cry, you're safe." She walked up to him, and he recoiled, it was like they first met all over again.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

Stephen believed her, and started to condense, his eyes still watering.

"Are you ok Stephen?" She asked, hugging him tightly.

"N-No… I was so scared… the metal… the machines… the needles… I-I-I…" Stephen burst into tears on her shoulder.

"Stephen…" Sarah started as she looked at his cut. "You have silver blood."

"I do?" He sniffled, looking at it.

"Yeah… that's… not normal… but then again, you're not normal…"

He sobbed a bit more.

"Not like that… I just… you can do things no one else can, it is really cool. You can turn into a fish in the water practically, and swim like one too. I' starting to think you're like… some angel or something… gifted with superpowers."

"Magical like Laputa." Stephen smiled for once, making Sarah smile to.

She let him a bit loose, and he fell to the ground. Sarah sat near him.

"Why were you so scared? I mean, I can get a needle in my arm for a shot, but, I don't freak out like that… is something wrong?" Sarah wanted some answers, and maybe, just maybe, Stephen would answer.

"Sarah… before I was found… well… I don't know how long it was… but _he _had me… and he tried to give me test s all of the time… shoving needles into me, taking my skin, testing that weird stretchy skin I have… seeing if I could be zapped by lightning… everything… and he never talked to me, and never cared… that's all I ever remembered… then Tails wants to do tests on me… will it ever end? I-I'm so scared… I don't like tests like that…"

"Ho-how long was it that you were with this man? And who was he?"

"I don't know… that's all I can ever remember, ever. And then, I never really heard his name… but all of those machines called him… Doctor."

Stephen started to cry again, and this time, someone was there for him.

"Thank you Sarah… I really need this…" He sobbed quietly, whimpering to the enormous trauma his young mind had already suffered, being soothed by the very presence of Sarah, the first person to ever care for him, and the only person he'd ever felt he could trust.

* * *

**So yeah, Stephen plus examinations equals spaz attack.**

**I hope you enjoyed!**

**More coming soon...**


	15. Corrupted Courtroom

**I know I've been gone while, sorry, swimming is a tough business, and I've got a lot of... _Other_ distractions in my life right now... *cough* I love you too Megan *cough* so yeah...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

One hour of lying down next to each other in the middle of the night was all Stephen needed with Sarah.

"I'm ready to go home now…" he breathed, his voice was fairly week.

"Don't cry Stephen, I'm going to kick Mr. Prower in the leg really hard for that, don't you worry."

Stephen chuckled once, short and quick.

"Well… I'd like to be there." He laughed again.

"C'mon, I know the way home this time, follow me, or better yet…" Sarah grabbed him and threw him over her shoulder.

"I like running with you like this." His voice was so close to her ear it made her jump.

"It is kind of nice because now you get to see what I see when I run." Sarah replied, bolting off into the forest.

* * *

Tails was sleeping next to Cosmo in bed, and his eyes stared at the ceiling.

"Oh Cosmo… I feel terrible…" He hugged her tightly, hoping for the same death grip in return; he got it.

"There there Tails, I'm sure Stephen will forgive you. He probably just had an overreaction or something, just like you."

Tails' body quivered in the grasp of his tender, loving wife.

"I hope so…"

A knock at the door woke him up.

"I'll get it Cosmo." Tails said quickly, Cosmo still followed him in her green nightgown.

The moment Tails opened the door, and angry hedgehog came in.

"How could you hurt him like that? He was five miles from everywhere and sobbing his eyes out! If I hadn't gotten there, he probably would've ran away for good!"

"I'm sor-"

"Sorry doesn't cut it! You should be punished for hurting him like that!" Sarah jammed her foot into Tails shin, and he winced in pain.

"Sorry. I really am Stephen… I really, _really_ am."

Stephen looked at Tails very carefully; his grey eyes taking in Tails' expression, seeing the dried tears and bloodshot eyes, something Sarah didn't see in her irrational fury.

"And that!" Sarah pulled her foot back to kick him again, but Stephen grabbed her leg, stopping her.

"He's sorry. C'mon Sarah, let's not bother Mr. Prower. He needs rest too." Stephen led his raging friend out of the room, and back to their house.

"Tails!" Cosmo ran to his side, looking at his now bleeding shin.

"I deserved it; and probably more too, but Stephen stopped her… he's really amazing with what he hides under that elastic skin of his…" Tails sighed, plodding off to bed as Cosmo fretted over his bleeding leg.

* * *

Sarah and Stephen creeped into the house, worried about waking Sonic and Amy up.

They didn't have to; the two were already waiting at the door for their return.

"Where were you two?" Amy was the first to snap, Sonic was more laid back, as usual.

"Stephen was-"

"I KNOW Tails doesn't take two hours to run a few little tests! WHERE WERE YOU?" Amy's voice was elevated mainly out of concern and fear, but she had a strange way of showing it.

"Mom… Stephen ran away because he was scared… I had to find him… and then we just stayed there for a bit, letting him… cry." Sarah said nearly apologetically.

"WHAT IF YOU WERE HURT SARAH?! What if someone stole you? Or hurt you? There are people out there that are stronger than you…" Amy fell to her knees. A lost kid was a terrible thing for a parent to worry about.

"I'm sorry…" Sarah's, and every kid's, favorite excuse came out.

"Sarah…" Amy tried to get angry again, until Sonic's hand came over her shoulder.

"Amy, let me handle this one." Sonic's cool style wasn't completely gone, "Sarah, in the future, don't run away for more than an hour without telling us where you're going to be; ok? Granted, I know you're my daughter in that you think you can do everything, but, you have yet to reach that point where you can beat me, and even I could be stopped and captured sometimes… I don't want my little girl hurt, and neither does your mom. So, promise me that, ok? No more running away for long periods of time."

"Without telling you where I'll be." Sarah finished, groaning.

"Now go to bed, it's been a long day. Stephen was captured, and you nearly drowned, so, let's all just go to bed, and relax." It was more of a demand than a suggestion.

No one argued, and everyone went to their beds, Stephen still sleeping in the same room and bed as Sarah.

* * *

As Sarah pulled the covers over both of them, Stephen shivered, obviously from fear rather than temperature.

"Hey, you ok?" Sarah asked him gently, with a friendly, yet motherly, tone in her voice.

"Yeah…" He answered quietly.

Sarah nodded, and then wrapped herself up on the other side of the bed.

Stephen instantly just melted down again, hugging Sarah tightly, shivering, and slightly crying.

"I don't ever want to go back to the Doctor, Sarah… not ever…" His voice held the fear of many years, and this worried her; how long had Stephen actually been with this 'Doctor'? And how badly did he torture Stephen? And why? All of these questions troubled her deeply.

"I won't let you go back Stephen, ok? Never ever." Her response seemed to affect him, because he quieted down, but then, Sarah began to hear snoring from behind her, and she smiled. "Goodnight Stephen… thanks again…" She turned to him, and looked at his shoulder, it was already healed perfectly, no scar or anything.

Not knowing any better form of gratification, she gave him a small kiss on the forehead.

In his sleep, he smiled a little bit, and Sarah giggled, then she turned around again, and fell asleep. **(A/N: AWW!! HOW CUTE!!!! I wonder if Stephen knows...)**

* * *

Quasar was up late in the cottage XT built in Mobius, ten miles from everywhere, and was watching the news as she restored her energy off of the houses unlimited supply of energy.

"Whoa ho! I know that face!" She turned up the volume to better hear the news story as the face of Miles Prower appeared on the screen.

"_Today is a sad day in the Mobian history. Miles 'Tails' Prower is being brought to court early today after being accused of withholding technological weapons of potential mass destruction from the Guardians of Nations. The trial will take place later today, but, as this is a serious threat, it is of short notice, we will keep you updated as the day goes on."_ The TV changed channels again, and Quasar blinked blankly at the screen, now on her favorite show of 'Tom and Jerry'.

"Well frick! He probably doesn't have a lawyer! Oh jeez… that's daddy's job!" Quasar rubbed the brim on her hat, and then started fiddling with her hair that XT had given her just for the purpose of looking nice, as far as she knew.

"What the heck am I going to do?" She asked herself.

Getting off of her pink bubble chair, she looked through her father's books.

"'Law for Dummies: Mobian Edition', PERFECT!" Quasar yanked the book off of the shelf, and started flipping through the pages. "NO PICTURES?! This is going to be a long night…" She sighed as she began to memorize the whole book.

* * *

Tails woke the next morning to a panicked Sonic.

"TAILS! Lil' Bro! You're all over the news! What did you do this time?" Sonic hovered over him and spoke just barely slower than he ran.

"What are you talking about Sonic? I haven't done anything."

"That's not what the news says, and Cosmo, you may want to look at this too, he is, after all, your husband." Sonic was gone then.

"What? Tails?" Cosmo rubbed his back as she got up.

"I didn't do anything, I swear."

Cosmo got up and ran off to the living room where Brunis and Daisy were already up looking at the news, horrified.

"What is this going to mean? Why's dad getting put on trial?"

Tails looked at the scene, and then looked on the screen, seeing his name on the TV, and then understanding that he was being accused of a crime he didn't really commit.

"I gave them a modified version of the Green Storm, what more did they want?" He growled.

"Dad?" Brunis questioned, getting a hint of his frustration.

"I'm not your father yet Brunis, but I still will care for you like a son." After staring into the screen for a bit, he began to worry.

"What's going to happen?"

"Why are they doing this?"

"I don't know! But I know you could use a lawyer!" Quasar called from outside, her convertible, after being in her own shop as she listened to the book as an audio clip.

"Quasar?"

"I heard about this last night, and memorized all of the laws on Mobius! I can't possibly lose!" Quasar gloated.

"I guess I could use your help… but… I have a hunch that… well… hmm… I don't know why, but I really, honestly think this is staged."

"What? How?"

"Richard got hurt, and he can do anything. Isn't it a bit strange that I get accused of this right now, rather than when I built these harmless ships?"

"Yeah… and that the stakes are so high… they'll throw you in jail! DAD! I don't want you in prison for something that I did!"

"No Daisy, whatever is going on isn't your fault any more than it is mine. Richard is just being that spoiled, bratty snob his parents raised him to be. He's going to ruin our lives in his tantrum, but we're going to stay strong, right? If by some reason we need to escape prison, well, I can finish you guys, and we can move, that's not too bad, I guess…" Tails could be optimistic when he really tried.

"DAD!" Daisy cired, she didn't want others to suffer for her mistakes, and to her, it was her mistake; had she gone out with Richard the first time he asked her, and let herself suffer, no one else would be in pain.

"Daisy…" Quasar warned, reading her thoughts, "don't' you DARE go out with that perverted Richard kid. I saved you from him once, I can't do it again, well, I'm not sure… but, it wouldn't be easy… and furthermore, do you really think that hanging out with Richard would work? He'd still torture your family, and he'd treat you like crap in the process, abusing you, using you for pleasure, ignoring your hopeless pleas to spare you family. Just, don't even go there." Quasar shut up, or shut down, afterwards, and didn't do much.

"So when is this trial?" Tails asked glumly.

"Like, noon." Sonic answered; his family standing near and behind him.

"Oh dear… it is 11:30 now… and if I flew with my plane, they'd confiscate it…" Tails added.

"I'm going with you Tails." Cosmo said with assurance.

"Me too." Daisy agreed.

"And that adds me in, and probably Brian too." Brunis shrugged, smiling.

"Well c'mon in! _My_ car may not have enough seats, but you can always double up, it is perfect!" Quasar gleefully bounded out the door, hopping like a little girl with a sugar rush; but what else was new?

Standing in Tails' driveway was a red convertible, shiny and new.

"Where did you buy this?" Tails asked, looking at the automobile, not many people had them.

"Well, if you MUST know, it isn't mine, but it WAS made for me. Originally, I found it in Richard's garage with a note for Daisy Prower on it, with all sorts of lovely, and sick, statements on it. But the license plate said 'cutiepi', so I knew that it must have been meant for me." Quasar smiled, letting everyone pile in.

* * *

In minutes, Quasar was in the vast city of Station Square with the sky scrapers reaching into the airspace above the town.

"Well, we're here, you better make yourself look presentable." Quasar sighed, doing a triple front flip out of _her_ car.

Tails and the gang followed closely behind.

"What are you doing for looking-"

Quasar smiled at them from a pair of pink, heart shaped sunglasses, fixing the collar of bright light red and pink over coat.

"How the hell did you get that?"

"I'm Quasar, I can do anything." She smiled smugly and strode in pride into the courtroom.

The first thing you could notice from this courtroom was that it was made to be unfair.

The jury was composed of members either supported by Richard's family, or GUN officials, even Shadow was a part of it; but Tails didn't expect to see him as an ally to his innocence, as Shadow usually kept to himself about most things, and only did what was in the best interest of himself.

Also, the judge himself seemed to be biased against Quasar and the Prower family. Glaring at them as they walked in, the human pounded his gavel and the room quieted.

Quasar and the Prower family sat down patiently as the judge began to speak.

Before the Judge could call the court into session, Quasar jumped into action. Running to the jury, she quickly started whispering to them.

"Ok, I will go out with the first person to call Tails' family innocent. That first person will get me next week, and then the next people to agree with me will get me the following weeks. Do we have a deal, or no?"

The jury was flabbergasted, this was completely illegal.

"Ms. Quasar, I do not allow such bribery in my chambers!" The human judge growled at the promiscuous robot.

"Oh dear…" Tails looked down, and Cosmo rubbed his back lightly, trying to calm him.

* * *

The court case pushed onwards against Quasar, but she never lost her optimism. It was likely that she didn't think she was going to lose at all with her deal at the beginning.

"Is it true that Tails supplies GUN with a lot of his advanced weaponry?"

"Yes." One of the various officials of GUN, probably waiting to stake a claim to half of Tails' Workshop answered quickly.

"Do you think that he is withholding materials from GUN to keep for himself, to do with whatever he pleases?"

"There isn't a doubt in my mind."

Quasar grumbled about this, the other lawyer was well-paid, and she was an unpaid friend of the accused.

"Out of curiosity," Quasar started in the middle of the conversation, "is there ANY possibility that I could win this case?"

"That is all up to the jury." The judge replied snidely.

"Oh… great!" Quasar answered back, her voice beaming with sarcasm.

"Now if you say another word out of turn young robot, you shall be evicted from this room and arrested for disturbing the peace of this court."

Quasar smiled and stuck her tongue out at the judge the moment he looked away.

Then she sat at her desk, like the rebel she was, and on the digital screen that made up her eyes, two paddles appeared, and a ball started bouncing in between them.

Tails noted this inevitable fate, and started fiddling with his watch; typing in something, almost like a message.

A few seconds after he stopped, Brunis stiffened in his seat, hair standing up. He felt an electrical current, faint, but obvious, hitting his wristwatch.

No message was sent, that was unhidden, at least. Guessing from the pulses of electricity, Tails had sent him a secret message, in Morse Code.

"_Brunis, if you understand this message, please take Daisy home and go into my workshop, take her there, and close it off. I won't be coming home in time… you know what to do. Go._"

Brunis then leaned to Daisy's side, and whispered very secretively in her earbud.

"Daisy, moan in pain, now. We're getting out of here."

Daisy did as she was told, and let out a shriek of pain.

"AHHH!"

"What is wrong with her?" The judge asked angrily.

"I think she's going to be sick!" Brunis answered immediately, and then picked her up and ran her towards the doors.

"You better be back soon, if Mr. Prower is accused of anything, his family may suffer too."

"I am confident in my father's lawyer." Brunis called back, and then started walking Daisy out of the room.

The moment they were out of eyesight, Daisy was set down.

"Ok, what's this about?"

"Dad said go get to the workshop, and you are coming with me."

"Why me?"

"I don't know why, but it may be so that you can take us home faster." Brunis ran his fingers through her hair, and sighed.

"But you weigh so much!"

"Simple, don't carry me, I'll tag alone from behind."

Brunis took Daisy's hand, and she started running. Her top speed wasn't anything close to Sonic's or Sarah's, but it was at least over 40 mile per hour, which was about 4 times faster than Brunis could run. **(A/N: Yeah, Daisy's pretty fast, and she can run a lot faster, but it hasn't been well tested.)**

Brunis hopped as Daisy ran at about 30 miles per hour, letting Brunis keep his footing.

* * *

"So what is the verdict?" The judge asked the jury, who'd been deliberating over the fate of the Prower family, and more importantly, their Workshop.

"11 to 1, in favor of the Prower family being guilty of withholding secret, military technology from GUN and the rest of the world. We feel their house, workshop and creations should be forfeited to GUN for further investigation." Shadow said in his usual monotone voice.

"That's not fair!" Tails stoop up in uproar.

"The jury has spoken, at least you are not in jail, yet." The judge slammed his gavel down and Tails fell back into his seat.

"Impossible! Cheaters! I did everything to keep an obviously innocent family from getting stepped on and I still lose! This isn't fair! How many of you were paid by Richard the Cat?" Quasar vented aloud, steam actually coming from where her ears would be.

The room fell silent.

"That's what I thought! You're all nothing but a bunch of low-life waiting to get paid by a cheating Cat who always gets his way! You should all be ashamed of yourselves!"

"Young robot, if you talk out of turn one more time in my chambers-"

"You'll what? What old man? Answer me that! I am so on the verge of slaughtering everyone in this room faster than you can blink, do you want to be my first victim? Huh? What say you that? You haven't got a ruling for me there now have you?"

The judge, after regaining his composure answered her with calmness and brevity.

"Actually, I do, arrest her! She has verbally insulted me."

"You sick, twisted, corrupt piece of worthless flesh, why were you even born? To corrupt more innocent beings lives?" Quasar glared the stern man until he face broke, and he stared blankly into the air that was around her as she was taken away.

Tails watched Quasar be taken away, and then he and his family walked out of the room.

The moment they walked into the city outside, news reported assaulted him and his family with questions and microphones.

"Let's go, Cosmo, Brian, I don't want to be here anymore than you do…" Tails grabbed his son and wife and started flying with his tails.

Quickly, they got into Quasar's car, and drove off, avoiding the city traffic the best they could.

* * *

**Ok, well, I think (after watching about 18 episodes of the anime "Princess Tutu") that I want my comments to be similar to that of Drosselmeyer's in that particular anime, they will come less frequently, and will usually be... I don't know... not always as omniscent.**

**More coming soon...**


	16. Escape

**Sorry again for the sluggishness of my updates, swimming is a brutal sport, and I am ALWAYS tired after practice... (Tired enoguh to use it as a constant excuse.)**

**Ah well, the story is up nonetheless.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Brunis quickly typed into the pad at his soon-to-be father-in-law's garage and a door opened.

"Welcome, Brunis." The computer spoke to him.

Brunis didn't respond. Instead, upon hearing the loud whir of helicopters, he quickly ran to another section of the room, and rapidly pressed an intricate set of buttons and dials. Slowly the garage door began to close, and the floor began to sink.

"Brunis wha-" Daisy began worriedly, but Brunis hushed her with a hand over her mouth.

"No talking…" He whispered directly into her earbud as quietly as he could.

Above the garage, hammers, saws, and laser cutters could be heard trying to bust into Tails' fabled Workshop. No doubt, all of them came from GUN.

Daisy's eyes were wide with fear, and Brunis held her close. Slowly, the noises began to fade.

"They're going to get us… we're breaking the law…"

"We're not breaking the law yet, not until they find us, and can prove that we are guilty of seeking refuge in our second home."

"Second home?" Daisy tilted her head sideways.

"Did you really think that Tails made all of those clothes for no reason other than just in case you needed a swim suit? He's had a back-up plan for when GUN found him out for years. He'll be coming in from Sector D on the eastern half of the Workshop."

"It is seriously that big?"

"He has a camouflaged entrance fit for about a car into the base, locked up and hidden in the ruins in the forest. And yeah, it is THAT big."

"Do we have a home in here?"

"I built it myself, it isn't as normal as the one we had before; way too much metal, but still nice." Brunis hugged Daisy again as the base shut.

"Will my stuff be saved?"

"I don't think that anything in our main house will be saved."

"What about all of those love letters I wrote to you for when you came back and-"

"Love letters? You wrote me love letters?"

Daisy blushed like mad.

"Well, I thought that, after you left, if I wrote enough love letters, you'd come back."

"Even though I couldn't get them?"

"I know, it was dumb and stupid…"

"No, actually it was quite sweet of you." Brunis planted a kiss on her cheek and let himself lay down next to her.

* * *

Tails and his family drove into the forest, and stopped near some ruins, buried deep within the floral fortress.

"We're here, everyone go inside the tunnel." Tails instructed, leading Brian and Cosmo out of the car to get through the security systems that he'd placed.

The moment he walked into the musty, dark room, lights appeared.

"Shedding sample analysis complete; welcome, Miles." Tails held a hand to his face and pulled it down, groaning. Cosmo tried not to giggle.

"Shedding?" Brian asked.

"When your fur comes off and floats in the air, that's shedding. I do it fairly frequently." Tails answered, typing in a few more codes onto the walls, opening a large door behind and in front of them.

"We go ahead?" Cosmo turned to Tails before venturing into the stale, yet clean, air that was wafting out from the new entrance.

"Yes," Tails replied, "I want to get Quasar's car safe."

Tails walked outside, hopped into the driver's seat, when suddenly, a person appeared in his passenger seat.

"I filled the back up with most of your personal belongings." A cold, sharp voice pierced Tails' ears; Tails jumped back out of the car, yelping like he was 8 again.

"Sh-shadow… Wh-what are you doing here?"

"I'm helping the slightly innocent, and choosing not to ransack the not-so-mythical workshop of the Great Miles Prower." He said coldly, yet again.

"You knew?"

Shadow was silent.

"Why are you getting my things?"

"I was the innocent vote in the ruling." Shadow said no more, and started walking off, ignoring Tails furthermore.

Tails looked in the back of his double-borrowed car, and found all of his, Cosmo's, Daisy's, Brunis's and Brian's possessions stashed in the trunk.

"Amazing… truly amazing…" Tails wheeled the car unto the darkness before him, and followed after his family, the doors shutting behind him.

* * *

Quasar was lying on her back on an operating table, strapped down by feeble titanium bands. She had been taken to GUN's main lab, buried hundreds of yards into the ground for examination and reverse engineering.

They didn't like her much. She was a potential threat.

"What are you made of little robot?" The men in white coats asked her as if she couldn't hear.

"You know, don't like you that close to me when I'm not wearing my clothing." Quasar stated in a sassy tone.

"You shouldn't like or dislike anything though, robots shouldn't feel." Another said as he lowered a bolt cutter towards her chest.

"I really wouldn't do that if I were you." She warned, grinning, applying a massive electrical current into her body.

The moment the man's cutters hit her body, they melted. He was lucky he was wearing his rubber gloves.

"Is this game over? I am bored…" Quasar yawned, stretching her arms, breaking the bands of some of the strongest metal they had.

They all nodded to each other, and a machine grabbed Quasar, pulling her off of the stretcher, and pulling her away.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To your cell."

"Since when am I a prisoner of war?"

"Since you opened your big mouth in court."

"I can talk with my mouth shut you know, wanna see?" Quasar's mouth closed, and shut firmly, "See? No difference. Weird eh?" The machine didn't cease in taking her away to her new cell.

She was finally dropped, after going through about a miles worth of doors, in a small, white room, completely blocked off except for a single, transparent door. She had gone through a maze of cables and all sorts of other things she would've loved to toy around with, for this. It was now she wished she could've been smart enough to break free and toy with the electronics, but she was too tired.

"Ok, when am I free?" She asked to no one.

No reply, from anything. Quasar sighed and rubbed her chin. She walked up to the door, and looked around at the area before her. It was like a massive catacomb of robots, the first prototypes of machines she'd never seen before, including automatons similar to herself in some ways, that obviously looked alien.

"Ooh, I'm sure the public would LOVE to see the alien toys the government has…" Quasar muttered as she started recording everything she saw.

But, unable to see everything, she was getting annoyed. There was a camera, lodged into the wall, which was watching her that she just noticed for the first time. Walking up to it, she threatened the people.

"Ok, I have three ways I can do this. I can either be set free by the kind men and women who are watching me right now, or I can try to annoy them until they set me free by singing some of the most annoying songs you will ever hear all night, and all day for as long as it takes, or I can just break free. What is your first method?" Quasar looked at the door, it wasn't opening. "Ok, have it your way."

In minutes, she started singing songs like "Daddy DJ," "Dum Dadi Doo," and "Come With Me." And in minutes, unbeknownst to Quasar, the men and women listening to her annoyingly upbeat music muted her cell. **(A/N: For most people, I've found, Europop is commonly reffered to as torturous music meant for the sole purpose of hurting American ears. I beg to differ. XT's and Quasar's personalities both are based on a lot of Europop music... I love it.)**

* * *

Sarah and Stephen woke to see Sonic and Amy worrying in front of the TV.

"Dad? What's wrong?" Sarah asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Mr. Prower just lost his house…" Sonic's reply was much slower than his running speed.

"Well," started a smarter Stephen, "where did it run off to?"

Amy tried not to laugh with her hands burying her face.

"No Stephen, the government took Mr. Prower's home away." The pink hedgehog sighed.

"Can't Mr. Brunis just make a new one?" Stephen wondered aloud.

"Yeah, but if they need a home, we'll let them stay with us." Sonic said boldly as he heard helicopters in the distance.

"What's that?" Stephen wandered to the window.

Sonic began to panic for a moment. "Everyone! Let's get some of Tail's stuff! We'll give it back to him as soon as we see him! GUN is probably going to take it for themselves…" Sonic took Sarah's hand, and they both ran off, leaving a bewildered Stephen and Amy.

"What just happened?" Stephen held his head in confusion.

"Sonic is just worried about his little brother Tails… he wants to help him for all of the time Tails helped him."

"Oh… that makes a bit more sense…"

Sonic and Sarah rushed into the room like a blur whirlwind.

"IT'S ALL GONE!" They shouted.

"Well, then I don't know what to do…" Amy muttered, confused herself.

"Where even is he? Shouldn't he be back yet?"

As if to answer their question, a phone rang.

"I got it…" Sonic spoke for the group, walking slowly to the phone. "Hello?"

"Sonic! Nice of you to pick up!"

"Tails?" Sonic was stunned.

"Yeah, I'm calling from my most secret place ever."

"The workshop?"

"You betcha. Now, if you want to come and visit us, can I at least have your coordinates?"

"My what?"

A slapping sound could be heard on the other line, "you know, longitude and latitude?"

"What for?" Sonic's face was either in deep thought or utter confusion. Turning his head over his shoulder Amy looked like she was wanting info. "He wants to know my coordinates right now."

"Your what?" Amy didn't get it either.

"55 degrees, 21 minutes, and 13 seconds North. 32 degrees 49 minutes, and 1 second West." Stephen replied automatically.

Everyone stared at him as he blinked and phased back into reality. The sound of the phone dropping echoed throughout the house along with Tails' plea for the coordinates.

"How did you know that?" Sarah looked at him, mouth hanging low.

"Know what?" It was Stephen's favorite game.

"Co-coordinates…" Sonic stuttered. "Stephen, could you repeat that?" Sonic put the phone on speaker.

"What?"

"Those coordinates, could you repeat them?"

"What coordinates?" Stephen's curiously skeptical look at Sonic made the blue hedgehog feel stupid.

Tails deliberated on the other side of the phone for a moment, and then spoke.

"Where are you Stephen?"

"55 degrees, 21 minutes, and 13 seconds North. 32 degrees 49 minutes, and 1 second West." Stephen's eyes were as blank as stones, staring off into space. It was as if he wasn't conscious. With a small blink, his eyes returned to normal, and he answered again, "at Sarah's house."

"Interesting… Sonic, I will be there in a few minutes. Oh yes, and, move Stephen away from his present spot. See ya!" Tails hung up without another word.

Everyone in the room stared around, either baffled, or tired mentally. But, they still listened to Tails, and moved Stephen about five feet from where he was standing.

* * *

Quasar was becoming fairly agitated. Despite her wondrous singing, no one seemed to be paying attention to her.

"Fine, if that's how you wanna roll, then I'm outta here. Bye guys." Quasar turned around and looked at the transparent wall.

Making a fist, she threw her weight into the metal, and was shocked to see that she barely dented it.

"OWIE!!! That hurt! DIE BITCH!" Quasar growled, her fingers fanning outwards. **(A/N: It appears that Quasar lacks any control XT has...)**

Blue tips formed at the ends on her fingers, and shot out like lasers to the wall, melting it into a hot orange color.

"BURN BABY BURN!" She cheered as a part of the metal wall fell off.

She transformed back into her spider form, and then hopped through it.

"FREEDOM!!!" She could've skittered around, but that wasn't any fun for her. So, instead, her four legs linked together as she rested on the wall, and formed a big wheel, about the size of a teacup's saucer, and her eye tilted on its side, her hat and brain remaining sideways. **(A/N: Quasar did this in real life, and it was so CUTE!)**

"Let's roll." She chuckled, starting to wheel around at high speeds.

Quasar laughed joyously as she recorded more and more of the facility, and laughed even harder when thins tried to stop her. A small laser on the side of her eye would burn away anything foolish enough to oppose her rampage.

She was as unstoppable as her father was.

* * *

At the Rose residence, a small hole appeared in the living room.

"Hello!" Tails winked as he stuck his head through the chasm.

"TAILS?" Sonic was shocked again.

"Yeah, I have a base underground, and I dug a hole from it to here. All I need is a door of some kind, and we can start using it…"

"The workshop is that big now?"

"It covers more than half of the Mystic Ruins zone now, so yeah… wanna come visit?" Tails offered, diving back down into his hole.

"Um sure, Amy, Sarah, I'm going down with Tails."

"But I'm going with you." Amy declared.

"But what about Sarah and Stephen?"

"They are good kids, and besides, someone has to keep watch." Amy stated.

"Good point, Sarah, Stephen, stay here, mom and I will be back soon."

"Ok." Sarah said quietly as her parents disappeared into a hole that appeared in her living room floor.

After a moment, they both sat down on a long couch, fairly close together.

"I had a nice dream last night…" Stephen smiled and hugged himself in warm recollection.

"What was it like?"

"This beautiful ball of white light came down, and formed into a beautiful girl, and she kissed me."

Sarah blushed, she remembered that she had kissed him on the forehead before she went to bed.

"Where'd she kiss?"

"Right… here." Stephen pointed to his forehead, only increasing her red coloring. "Sarah, why are you blushing?"

_Shoot… why did he have to see?_ "Um… because, well, I gave you a kiss on your forehead because I was… I thought… I felt like you could've used a kiss for saving me."

"You kissed me?" Stephen paused, analyzing this mentally.

"Yes Stephen, I kissed you, on the forehead."

"Did I like it?"

"You smiled in your sleep."

"Hmm…" Stephen didn't know what to think. He felt warm inside, but that only made it harder to think. "What's that heat? Sarah, is the stove or oven on?"

"No, what heat?"

"I feel kind of hot right now…"

"You feel hot? I-I think I might too…" Sarah felt strange as well, shifting uneasily from Stephen, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Not knowing what else to do, she changed the subject. "Why do your eyes turn stony when you do something strange?"

"My eyes turn stony? I didn't know that… maybe that has something to do with me not remembering doing anything strange… because I don't remember doing anything weird, ever…"

"You do a lot of weird things Stephen, but they're cool."

"Thanks!" Stephen beamed a smile, and Sarah felt strange again.

_What is this feeling?_ Sarah wondered mentally, partially liking it.

"You know, you're pretty nice Stephen, you never seem like you want to be mean…"

"I don't…"

"I'm glad to have you as a friend."

"Me too." The two sat in awkward silence for a while longer. **(A/N: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I LOVE LOVE-LOVE!)**

* * *

Quasar stepped into a new room with her hands spread wide in her adult form.

"Ooh! Pretty colors!" She awed as she broke the glass over a fist-sized red gem. "I'm sure that carrying such a heavy gem must be such a burden. I guess I'll help by lightening the load!"

Sirens roared as Quasar held the gem in her hand, and a red glow began to encase her body. Robots came to neutralize her, but she didn't feel like cooperating.

Feeling overly energetic due to the Chaos Emerald she held, she was singing her way out. **(A/N: Song: Psycho Teddy by Psycho Teddy. Awesome song, lol.)**

"Psycho Teddy! Oh my teddy, feel so bouncy. Lovely, little cutie won't you cuddle me? Cuddle me? Cuddle me? Cuddle me?" Quasar went about hugging her foes until they crushed into folds of sheet metal.

As she led them out she started chanting, "won't you follow me? Follow me? Follow me? Follow me?"

She was having too much fun. And by the time she made it back into the catacombs, she climbed the spire in the middle of it all, got a good recording, and then started to wreck her way out.

Her lasers now red, she lightly zapped each individual room as spun like a ballerina. She then spoke loudly, "C'mon my fellow bots! BREAK FREE!" She cackled a bit, and then jumped onto the wall, and started climbing out towards an air vent, watching from behind as the group she summoned wreaked havoc on her captors.

She had no regrets.

* * *

**Quasar's a monster, lol.**

**Well, that concludes this little installement, hopefully I will have another one within the week...**

**More coming soon...**


	17. Piece of the Puzzle

**If I apologize for being late, then it would be an excuse.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Daisy and Brunis were working together; half dreaming, half thinking. They wanted an amazing wedding and they wanted it sooner than later, but at the same time, they wanted it out in the open, in the very forest where Cosmo had gotten married.

However, at that given moment, it seemed almost selfish to think about it, so they dreamt about it instead.

"It has been a long day…" Tails muttered as he, Cosmo, Amy and Sonic all began to plan on their next move.

"Yeah… so Tails, what are you going to do for a job?" Amy asked the golden kitsune.

"Job? Oh crap! I was just fired! As if this could get worse… oh jeez… what should I do?" Tails sat down on a couch, placed in the middle of a spacial metal living room in his Workshop.

"Don't worry Tails, you can work with me at the greenhouse for a bit, they're asking for a new set of hands, and a flying set would be nice to get some of the plants that are hung." Cosmo rubbed his back, she loved to care for Tails, just like all of her plants.

"Or as a mailman." Sonic offered, "Air mail would be nice."

"Or if you want, we could always use a new waiter at the restaurant."

"Thanks guys, but, I think I may just wait a little bit, you know, catch up on a few projects first… besides, maybe I could make a living by selling stuff I make online or something? If GUN won't buy, surely someone else will, and, since they don't know how expensive or cheap my things are, I can change the prices… hmm…" Tails thought pleasantly as images of making a lot of cheap cash came into his mind.

"We'll find a way, I'm sure. No need to worry Sonic." Cosmo reassured him, "besides, we have this massive Workshop at our disposal. We're practically set for life."

Tails wandered off then, working on a few of the projects he'd started. Then something jostled his memory.

"I hope Stephen and Sarah are ok up there…" Amy thought aloud, despite barely leaving her daughter and adopted son for barely five minutes.

_Stephen! That's right!_ Tails thought gleefully as he ran off into another half of the Workshop, accessing the computer for the data as he flew.

"Let's see… Stephen… the data I've received…" Numbers and symbols flew across the screen, and the face of the mature Kitsune changed into one of utter shock and amazement. "He's a… he's not… impossible… HEY SONIC!" Tails yelled, despite being a few acres away. **(A/N: Yeah, it's THAT big.)**

"YEAH?" Sonic's voice yelled back.

"NEVER MIND!" The golden fox ignored his first thought.

Rereading the data, Tails fell back into his chair holding his head.

"Oh my, oh my, oh my… that boy… he's not even a boy really, he's… who?" Tails began to rethink every assumption he'd ever made about Stephen with this information; everything changed. "I've got to go talk to him…"

Tails whirled his tails around and flew off to the hole to Sonic's house, hoping to speak with the strange oddity he'd been graced to analyze.

* * *

Stephen and Sarah were sitting next to each other, just barely about to touch, on the couch. They were shy of each other, and they had no idea why anymore. A few days ago, they were practically brother and sister, but now, something different was happening.

Sarah didn't want to look at him, finding it embarrassing to look in any way she might try, and Stephen was trying his best to mimic her; they were both failing in it.

"Sarah… do you feel strange right now?" Stephen asked, trying not to stutter, he was doing well there.

"Y-yes. Why? Do you?"

"A bit-"

"STEPHEN!" Tails popped out of the hole like a bunny from its home.

"EEEEEEEEK!" They both shrieked, hugging each other for a brief moment. They looked each other in the eyes after that, and hopped off of the couch, towards opposite ends, frightened at a strange, electrical feeling.

"Stephen, do you still have your memories from before you met us erased?"

Stephen just stared blankly at Tails, the man who made him relive his past.

"Stephen? Oh dear me… I'm sorry for scaring you out of your wits yesterday, but those results are done! No more tests are needed to know what you are!"

"Huh? What I am? Aren't I a hedgehog?" Stephen wondered aloud, Sarah listened in closely.

"No, oddly enough, not in the slightest Stephen. I have a hunch that you were not brought into existence by normal, natural means…"

"Like the stork that brings the babies?" Sarah asked innocently.

_Oh dear… Amy really taught her THAT one?_ "Yes, Sarah, like that, when a mommy and a daddy get a kid, I don't think Stephen was like that…" Tails got out of the hole and started dialing a number.

"Hello?" A cold, menacing voice came from the other line.

"Hey Shadow? Can you by chance come over to Sonic's house? It was nearby my house before GUN took it…"

A low response was heard by Sarah, but she couldn't tell if it was a yes or no.

"So, you're not normal that way either? Stephen, what are you? Aren't you a hedgehog?"

"I thought I was… but… I don't know…" Stephen sighed, looking down, anywhere but at Mr. Prower.

"Ok then, thanks." Tails hung up and looked at Stephen. "So, I'm curious, can you make yourself look like me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Surely you know a bit about your powers, c'mon, try and look like me."

"How?" Stephen looked at Tails like the madman he was.

"I don't know, you're the one with the elastic qualities. Try shaping yourself with your hands."

Stephen grabbed a bit of his skin, pulled it out, and then let go. "Like this?" As the skin slowly dropped down and began to pull into its original shape.

"No… grr… how do we do this?"

"Tails? Where is he? Where?" Shadow growled as he barged in, gun ready.

"Wh-who is that?" Stephen's legs began to shake a bit.

"You! You're the one." Shadow walked up to the little silver boy and glared into his grey eyes. "Let me see those results again…" Shadow glanced over Tails' findings, and then walked away into the kitchen.

"Who was that?"

"Stephen, that was Shadow the Hedgehog, I have a feeling that he may know a bit about you."

Shadow came in with a knife, and immediately grabbed Stephen's arm. The black hedgehog sliced a bit of the skin from his finger off, and watched as the silver blood pooled from his finger.

"OOW!" Stephen wailed in agony at the knife cleaved the skin off.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Sarah jumped on Shadow and started to yank him away the best she could, but that was about nothing.

"Foolish little kid." Shadow shoved her off as he held Stephen in a death grip as he instinctively tried to run away and pull away. Shadow watched intently as the wound began to heal with rapid speed, and Stephen began to squirm more, but nothing was getting out of the hands of the Ultimate Lifeform.

Nothing except for Stephen.

The little grey hedge-something began to melt backwards, his hand turned into a string, and it easily slipped from Shadow's grasp.

"Wha-?" Shadow watched at the more-fluid version of Stephen flipped backwards, and ran out the door.

"Oh my he has potential for something big…" Tails thought aloud, "how cool that would be to do that sort of stuff…"

"He's a living being though… not a…" Shadow took a seat on Sonic's couch, and began to work his brain.

* * *

Sarah was running with Stephen as he fled, trying vainly to get him to stop.

"Stephen! Stop! I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt you!" She pleaded with the stony-eyed Stephen.

The grey creature only ran faster, making Sarah actually try to keep up with him.

"Stephen… please?" Sarah grabbed hold of the running creature, and he started to stumble, eventually he fell down.

Sarah slowly walked next to him, and patted his back. He was crying.

"Why? Why? Why? Why did he do that to me?" Stephen shook like a little leave about to come off a tree on a windy day.

"I don't know Stephen, but I know I'll kick Shadow's leg so hard he won't walk, ok?"

"I don't get it at all Sarah… why is my life so confusing? Why did I just black out and appear here? Did I get those stony eyes again? Do you think that maybe I'm a monster?"

"You're not a monster, Stephen. You're just misunderstood. You don't do what you do to hurt others. You only do stuff to help yourself and help others."

Stephen grabbed his face with his hands and sobbed furiously. He didn't show any signs of stopping.

"Hey there… it's ok, right?" Sarah hugged him a bit.

"I guess… why does all of this always have to happen to me? Why can't it be someone else?" Stephen sighed while tears fell from his face.

"I know this much, I'll stay with you until you feel better."

Stephen didn't answer her, but his grip on her small body tightened, holding on for support, both physical and emotional.

* * *

"It is truly fascinating… that boy…" Tails marveled, watching Shadow think a bit more.

"He wasn't on ARK, I know that much… and it appears that he ages. Very unlike him…"

"Do you think that the Doctor was Eggman?"

"Well, he seems to have a phobia of people experimenting, and your technology. It would not surprise me." Shadow looked out, back up into space.

"I feel sorry for the torture he must have endured…"

"Don't you find it odd?" Shadow's tone was different than normal, "if he was tortured by Eggman, then it is a likely assumption that he was born there too. If that's true, then I am quite similar to his father or uncle."

"Then he would be the Second Ultimate Lifeform. He's strong, highly intelligent, and very adaptable..."

Shadow looked over to the area in which Stephen ran off to.

"And he could certainly fill the shoes of that… that boy is very powerful. Do you think he can use Chaos Control?"

"Maybe you should try to teach him a few 'tricks of the trade'?"

Shadow nodded in agreement.

"If you do though, let me film it."

"Why you!" Shadow glared at the fox as he became a golden blur and vanished into his hole. "Reckless little fool."

Sitting back onto the couch, Shadow held his head again.

"One thing is definitely for certain, that boy is NOT a hedgehog, he was a creation, built in a lab, just like me…"

* * *

**I hope to have another chapter in before the 25th, BUT, just in case, Merry Christmas! (Or, Happy Holidays, if you're not of that religion.)**

**More coming soon...**


	18. Eventful Night

**Simple words: Storm. No Power. No heat. No water. No electricity. No fanfiction. No phone charger. No iPod. No warm food. One book. Stephenie Meyer's "The Host". 40 hours. That's all. Then. 57 emails.**

**Sorry.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Stephen was done crying, but not done holding Sarah. He was a wreck, tortured from years of enslavement within the metal home of the Doctor. He would never outgrow those childhood fears, no matter how old he lived to, but he could do his best to ignore them for the time being.

Sarah stood up with him in her arms, hugging strongly, and she spoke softly into his ear.

"Are you ready to go home now?"

"Yeah Sarah, thanks…" Stephen and Sarah then jetted off, back to their home, still a bit shaken from the whole deal.

* * *

Damian was sitting in his chambers in the middle of his fortress watching a countdown for his arrival with boredom.

"Another day… oh joy… well, it will give me time to work on my little toys…"

"DAMIAN!!" A voice screeched on his main screen, making the fat scientist jump in his seat.

"Don't scare me like that! I almost killed myself!"

"IT DIDN'T WORK!"

"Well I never tested it on Seedrians before. What happened?"

"She smelled it, but didn't like the smell very much… you fat, horrible, evil man! Giving me a product that didn't work! I will have my parents-" Immediately, the doctor responded.

"That won't be necessary!" He interrupted nervously, "You seem angrier than usual. Any reasoning for that?

"She. Is. Engaged. To. The. Dog."

"Dog?"

"BRUNIS YOU FAT IMBECILE!"

"Says the spoiled rich boy…" Damian muttered.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" The infuriated Richard exploded again.

"I just broiled my toy." The doctor thought quickly, Richard seemed fooled. "You know, did you ever think of just taking her away?"

"Of course I- no I didn't… how would I do this?"

"Simple, catch her off guard when she's away from Brunis, and presto, she's yours."

"Hmm… nice idea… I could be nice to her, and then she won't expect anything, and then I'll just take her away!"

"Go for it kiddo, you've got nothing to lose."

"I know! Thank you Damian!" Richard left the chat soon after.

"Jeez that kid is annoying. I wish I could watch this though, he's going to fail like an idiot."

Dr. Damian stared at the map and watched as his big moustached face on the screen inched forwards to the Mystic Ruins Zone.

"Soon my creation, you will be back under my control…" His goggles over his eyes flashed once and he began to chuckle deeply; that is, chuckled until he started coughing uncontrollably, and sat back down exhausted.

"I have got to start working out…"

* * *

By the time Sarah got Stephen home, Shadow had disappeared, much to Sarah's anger.

"Where is that Shadow! I need to give him a power kick to the shin!" Sarah growled, Stephen giggled.

"He left Sarah…" Tails sighed, staring at Stephen. "The world's second ultimate lifeform… wow…" Tails was in awe, the kid was amazing, now that he thought about it. How quickly he learned, how fast he adapted, he easily, with training, could be able to match Shadow.

"What?" Stephen asked innocently.

"Stephen, who is the Doctor?"

Stephen only became stricken with fear.

"Don't talk about him to Stephen!" Sarah immediately stood in front of Stephen and glared at Tails, "he still has many issues with thinking about it."

"Of course…" _I have really got to remember that… unlike Shadow, this boy is very emotional, and definitely not a machine to be used._ "Sorry."

"Hey Sarah! Let's go get some sleep, ok?" Her loving, carefree father called while coming up the tunnel the ex-neighbor created.

Sarah hadn't noticed the time until now. _Have I really been gone that whole time? Wow… consoling Stephen is a time consuming thing…_ "Ok dad, we'll be right there."

Sarah and Stephen strode easily into the kitchen, got a small bite to eat, and then wandered off to bed.

"Tails," A blue hedgehog spoke quietly, trying to add to the aura of quietness established within the home, "your family would like to see you again." Sonic teased as he pulled Amy out of the hole too.

"Yeah, well, see you later bro." Tails hopped down and fell into the tunnel, using his version of the spin dash to make the ride a bit easier on him.

* * *

Brunis and Daisy sat on a bed in a vault, just like Cosmo and Tails, and Brian, thinking.

"You know…" Daisy began as she twirled a bit of fur around on Brunis's chest, "how about we have that wedding next weekend? We don't need it to be really big, and besides, the world right now hates us, so, let's just let them, and only invite a minimum of people."

"Sonic and his family?"

"Exactly."

"Sounds good, hon." Brunis lowered his muzzle into her hair and breathed in, taking in the fragrance.

"I love you…" She cooed, getting off of him and getting dressed for bed, which was practically nothing at all. Daisy felt that, as husband and wife, she had no reason to hide from Brunis, and it was fueled a bit by being able to do something to Brunis that Richard only wished he could do.

"Aye, me too." Brunis said, starting to crush her in a big massive hug. She enjoyed it nonetheless, he was very warm.

* * *

Tails and Cosmo sat on a very small heart-shaped bed, in a similar situation to their daughter and soon-to-be son.

"Where in Mobius did you get this bed?"Cosmo demanded as she picked her leg off of the ground for the fifth time from falling.

"I don't remember… I know I got it after I met you at one point… but that was probably when I fit in it." Tails was careful not to stretch.

"Well, there is only one way I'm going to be able to sleep you nincompoop!" Cosmo fumed, seeming angry.

"And that is?" Tails prompted, watching Cosmo get off of him.

"Take a big guess genius." Cosmo hopped on top of him, hugging him and resting her head on his upper chests.

"Hmm… why the heck didn't I bring this bed up ever? I like this bed!" Tails joked, caressing his flower's bloomed earbuds.

"I think I like it too…" Cosmo replied, throwing the blanket over the two of them.

* * *

"I wonder when I'll get a girlfriend…" Brian mumbled aloud, thinking about Sarah. "Sarah's really pretty, but Stephen likes her, and she likes Stephen, so it would be mean of me to try to get her… and sis' has got Brunis, and he's really cool, and dad has mom, and Mr. Sonic has Mrs. Amy… who do I get? Life is so unfair…"

* * *

Somewhere in the forest along the road to school, a female wolf was staring at the sky.

"Mr. Xavier… I'm still waiting…" She said, grumbling a bit.

Then, the weirdest thing happened. The wind spoke.

"A… bit… longer…" the voice was like a whisper, but very distinct.

"How much longer?!" Luna begged again.

"A… bit… longer…" The voice repeated, two green stars in the sky, very vast and very bright, blinked off and then back on again.

"WEEEEE!" Another voice cheered as a metal red blur ran through the forest.

* * *

Quasar felt a strange sensation; a burning throughout her circuits. After the burning, a voice, electronic, and digital, but a clear, pronounced voice.

"Quasar! Help Luna out! She needs to be united with one whom she loves!"

_OW! WHO THE HELL IS THAT?!_ Quasar grumbled mentally, wishing she wasn't frozen and could scratch the voice away.

"This is your father, Xavier the Truthfinder! Now, I must go, bye! Be sure to keep the house clean, and be nice to the kids!" He added in a feminine voice.

The moment he left, Quasar relaxed. An idea was embedded into her head, and she knew exactly what to do and where to go.

"Oh Luna!" She called.

* * *

"Oh Luna!" A voice called. The purple wolf looked at the red blur appearing in front of her, a Chaos Emerald in hand.

"Yes?" Luna didn't recognize the being very well.

"You're going to sleep for a long, long time, ok? And after a certain amount of time… your dream man will save you, understood?"

"So wait, how am I going to sleep?"

Quasar smirked, and jumped over to the wolf.

"Like this!" Quasar knocked Luna in the back of the head, and the wolf fell off of her roof.

Quasar picked her up, brought her inside, and laid her on her bed. A few moments later, froze her in a block of greenish, crystalline glass, encasing her completely. **(A/N: That will be important in another story... In order for Luna to meet the love of her life, well, she has to wait a while, and, to make sure she doesn't get old and withered and wrinkled during that time, she's being put on ice.)**

"I'm sorry Luna, but it had to be done. You'll wake up later, much later…"

Quasar then ran off again, her assault and battery crime committed.

* * *

Stephen and Sarah lay in bed for the longest time, just being there, a bit worried what the other was thinking.

"Sarah?" Stephen felt strange speaking her name.

"Yes Stephen?" Sarah felt awkward being held by the grey creature, now confirmed as 'not a hedgehog', but not because of what he was, but because it was him.

"Thanks for being there for me… I really appreciate your aid to my emotions." His vocabulary seemed to surpass Sarah's already.

"You're welcome Stephen. And I-" Sarah and Stephen both tensed up, a burning desire to finish that sentence grew within them, both hoping that Sarah would say some magical words, and yet, it wasn't fated to happen. Sarah cut herself short, "think you're a really, really nice guy, whatever kind of Mobian you are."

"Thanks." Stephen's grey eyes were altered due to the intense smiling, Sarah giggled at that.

"Let's go to bed now." Sarah offered, wrapping a blanket over her and Stephen.

No reply, other than a groaning and moaning sound, came from Stephen.

As Stephen lay next to her, his arm made a small impulse reaction. He brought Sarah closer to him with his rubbery arm, and rested his head on her head. They both felt terribly strange, like they shouldn't be doing that, but they ignored these childish fears, and drifted off to slumber-land together.

* * *

"I know! It is ingenious! I will sweet talk to her all day tomorrow, and then, the next day, when Brunis is in another class, I will kidnap her, and take her to my house, and then maybe I will finally have her to do away with as I please… ohohoho! It is so awesome I could cry…" Richard wiped a tear as he sat on his bed. "Damn you Daisy for trying to marry the mutt… you're mine, not his, mine… I owned you once, I'll own you again… All I need to do is get that dog away from you, and you'll be mine own little budding flower."

Richard sighed as he concluded his night by turning off his computer and lights, and drifted off to sleep, where he was Daisy's spouse, and _he_ was the one, not Brunis, sleeping with her in a clingy nightgown as she slept on his chest while he purred.

* * *

**I really wish I could put more in, but y'all deserve an update, and I need to get writing! I got a new notebook for Christmas, and I wrote down the general plot from now until the end of this story, (not much longer,) it is about... 18 events, major, events, that is.**

**More coming soon...**


	19. Academic Plotting

**Oh! I love naps! I am able to stay up so much later with only two extra hours of sleep within the day! And look! Another update! Two in one morning! WOOT! I haven't felt this good since summer.**

**After this though, I will retire, and go to bed...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Mondays were always a child's worst enemy. School started way too early, breakfast was rushed, and you had to deal with teachers riding on your back about everything you did.

Sarah hated it, Brunis and Daisy ignored it, Brian didn't mind it, Stephen loved it.

"I hate Mondays!" Sarah groaned as she and Stephen walked side by side to the wretched building where they were occasionally teased.

"Yeah, and it won't be so great on us now that Tails is a labeled criminal."

"Not exactly… he just was labeled guilty." Daisy corrected her soon to be husband.

"No talk! I'm going to hear enough of it as it is…" Sarah moaned, speeding up the pace with Stephen, who kept along easily.

They were silent until they were in their classes.

* * *

Stephen, who never had a schedule in the school, followed Sarah around like a lodestone. Even if he was told to go somewhere else, he probably wouldn't have listened. He was becoming attached to Sarah, in more ways than one.

"Stephen, we're going to gym right now, so be ready, we all know Ms. Q is crazy."

Stephen nodded, walking into the room slowly, with a gulp, thinking hard about holding Sarah's hand, but was too chicken to do so.

"Welcome, welcome! One and all!" Ms. Q was in a strikingly good mood today, "today we are playing a boring game of volleyball. Sorry for anyone who doesn't like this sport, but, it IS curriculum, and it must be taught, unaugmented by us Rinocians. If you don't already know how to play this sport, ask someone who does, I'm sure someone will step up eventually." The voice died down, and people started talking.

"Why don't you teach us, Ms. Q?"

"Because I'm lazy and was running from GUN last night after escaping prison, anymore questions?" Her voice was bright and cheery, very abnormal for her. "Good. The game begins in about… oh… 5 minutes."

"What are our teams?" A girl cat called, fairly tall for her age.

"You pick, I don't care, I don't have a care in the world!"

The cat-girl shrugged, and walked over to Sarah.

"Wanna be on my team?" The cat asked.

"I have no idea how to play, and Stephen probably doesn't either."

"That doesn't matter, I am pretty good, I can teach you guys."

"What's your name?" Sarah questioned sweetly.

"Megan. Megan the Cat. And you are?" **(A/N: If Megan reads this, she'll flip out. She's a great volleyball player though, and I love her a lot, my little kitten...)**

"Sarah the Hedgehog, and that's just Stephen, we don't know what he is."

"Oh, I see…" Megan sighed, looked at the boy. "He's kind of cute." She smiled at Sarah, "is he your brother?"

"No! He's not my brother!" Sarah growled back, Megan backed away for a bit.

Nets sprung from the ground, and teams formed, and Megan was the first to serve for their miniature game.

With a light tap of the ball, Megan propelled the projectile towards an unsuspecting victim on the other side.

Untrained, that person knew nothing of what should be done, and flinched, letting the ball hit the ground.

"Nathalie!" A boy on the other team yelled at her for being such a coward, Megan only smirked a bit, trying not to get overconfident.

"You're pretty good." Sarah admitted.

"Thanks, and you're good at dodgeball, it hurts like crazy when you get hit by your throws!"

"Sorry…" Sarah apologized to the golden-blonde cat.

Megan shrugged it off, and scored another point on the first serve, again.

"You are REALLY good…" Stephen admired, looking at Megan with slightly different eyes.

Sarah looked at him for a moment, a death glare, and then it softened. _He doesn't like me… why does that bother me?_

"Thanks." Megan blushed.

_That horrible cat! Get away from Stephen!_ Sarah screamed in her head.

Stephen looked at Sarah, and read her obvious anger.

"Are you ok Sarah? You look rather… angry."

"Oh! So he's your boyfriend! I get it!" Megan smiled at Sarah.

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND EITHER!" Sarah screamed.

"Sorry…" Megan looked away, trying to avoid the glare of Sarah.

"Sarah, calm down. I've never seen you so mad."

"Let's get out of here Stephen!" Sarah growled through gritted teeth.

"I like it in the gym though… better than anywhere else in the whole school." Stephen retorted.

* * *

"Uh-oh… I have to stop this… uh… Megan the Cat… hmm… boyfriend/girlfriend with… that guy!" Quasar cheered, typing on her computer, shining some invisible lights on them, slightly influencing their natural hormone levels.

* * *

A brown, blue eyed dog strode over to the fuming girl.

"Sarah, Megan, can you please both quiet down? You're giving me a bit of a headache." The new dog stated firmly.

Megan looked at him, and dropped the ball, letting it roll off of her hand and onto the floor.

"OUR POINT!" The other team cheered.

"Oops…" Megan looked down for a moment, passing the ball to other side. _He's gorgeous…_ She thought wildly about the stranger.

The dog looked at her and gave a faint smile.

"Megan… you're looking at me kind of funky…" The dog smiled, he wasn't very attractive; his fur was a bit disheveled, and he wasn't extremely muscular, but Megan seemed to think different.

"Yeah… I'm sorry…" The dog stared at her a bit longer, his piercing blue eyes struck into her soul.

"Hmm… you've got nice eyes…" The dog commented, glancing at her greenish blue eyes.

"You're… who again?"

"Joe, Megan… Joe the Dog. Do you by chance want to go somewhere later today?" He offered sincerely.

Megan was hit in the head with the ball and fell into Joe.

"I'd love to." She cooed as he caught her.

"Sarah… what was that that happened between the two of them?"

"That was love Stephen…"

"Love… hmm…"

"Megan, can you stop drooling over your new boyfriend and start playing the game?"

"Of course I can- wait what?! HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"

Joe snickered as he walked away. **(A/N: Hopefully, I won't make anymore uses of Joe the Dog in this story...)**

"SURE! Can you play now?" Sarah demanded.

"Fine!" Megan responded, starting to get points again, slightly distracted.

* * *

Daisy and Brunis were separated, and sure enough, Daisy was so kindly paired with Richard in another class, which she now knew she wasn't going to be able to focus in.

"Richard, please, no-"

"Say no more, I won't talk to you unless you want me to." He almost sounded sad. Daisy felt pity on him.

"Sorry for not telling you about my engagement."

Richard's jaw tightened, but Daisy didn't see it. _Keep your cool, one day, treat her nicely, then she's yours. Just think of that, that wedding won't ever get a chanceto happen._

"And I'm sorry for ruining your pool party."

"It's fine, Daisy. I acted like a bit of a jerk."

_He said my name for once… weird… what's up with him?_ "Well, I would try to compensate for your losses, but I really can't think of anything… sorry."

"Again, don't mention it. I've gotten over myself already. One weekend, well, it can do a lot, right?"

"Oh yeah..." Daisy smirked into space, thinking of last night with Brunis.

_Crap! She's thinking about him, I know it! They slept with each other last night! GRAGH! I HATE BRUNIS! DAMN HIM TO HELL! _"So, what did you do this weekend? I mean, after the party?" Richard's acting was superb, there was no trace of anger in his voice.

"Not so great, really. My dad got fired, my house was confiscated, and my belonging didn't have a chance to be moved in time…" Daisy lied, Shadow had moved everything for them.

"Oh, well, you could always stay with me if you'd like. Sorry that all happened…" Richard tried not to allude to his meddling with the court system.

_He is so guilty. _"Well, we've got a home already made again. Brunis is very good at building houses you know. He built my treehouse for me when he was only eight years old. That, and her built Sonic's house in a single night recently. He seriously has some potential for building things… a great architect."

_Shut the hell up about Brunis. He's a player, a devious, sex-craving player, who wants to keep you all to himself. The insolent moron doesn't even deserve to be in your presence, Queen. _"Well, I wish him good luck then."

_Yeah, something is DEFINITELY up with him…_ "Thanks."

* * *

Megan, Sarah, and Stephen won their game by a large margin, and their gym class was concluded. Megan walked with Sarah for a moment as Stephen struggled to keep up in the crowd.

"You know, you better make a move on that boy soon, he may get taken by another girl, he IS very cute."

"I don't want him as a boyfriend." Sarah stubbornly pronounced.

"Sarah, surely you can see that look in your own eye, you want him, and you want him bad."

"N-no I don't. He is like my brother. I can't… like-like my brother!"

"Was he born with you?"

"No…"

"Then it's fine… Sarah, he likes you too."

"He does?" Sarah's heart lifted.

"Y-"

"Sarah! Wait up!" Stephen called wildly, running them down as they walked to the next class.

* * *

Daisy got up the minute the bell rung.

"See you Daisy." Richard said politely.

"Bye Richard." Daisy sighed, kind of annoyed at his obvious attempt to be nicer to her. He had to have been faking it.

She quickly darted through the halls with her books and bumped into her fiancé, Brunis.

"Oh, hello!" She exclaimed excitedly. "How's your day been so far?"

"Not so great… you?"

"Richard's sucking up to me, it's fine though, he can't hurt us any more than he already has."

"Hey, um, would you mind if I skipped school today? I mean, I want to build our little altar, and get some nice things for our wedding, and well, I can't do that with school in the way."

"Brunis, you're not my child, you can do whatever you want, so long as you know what your doing, I'll let you."

"But you'll be fine?"

"Of course, what could possibly happen in one day?"

Brunis nodded in agreement, his mind fixated on the altar.

"I've already drawn sketches, it will be amazing." He spoke his mind, showing her the papers.

"Ooh! Another masterpiece by my big wolf!" She gave him another big hug.

"Hey Daisy." Richard waved as he walked by, bodyguard nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Richard." Daisy waved back, slightly exasperated.

"English class! I love English class!" Stephen cheered as Sarah ran him to his next class with her super speed.

"NO RUNNING IN THE HALLS!" A large bear teacher called to the two small hedgehogs.

Brunis and Daisy looked at each other and started laughing at their silly neighbors.

* * *

Stephen and Sarah sat down in their class, reading quietly. Class had already been in session for about ten minutes now.

Sarah was reading a child's book, not the greatest reader in the world. Stephen, however, was reading both the dictionary, and a massive tome-like novel meant for adults.

"Stephen, when did you learn to read like this?" The female teacher's voice questioned curiously, partially concerned.

Stephen's head tilted to the side, and he responded quickly. "Yesterday. I'm a quick learner."

"Don't let him get to you," Sarah explained to the teacher, "he's a bit different, he's amazingly smart, and can learn things faster than I can run… it's so cool it's unfair."

Stephen overheard his name be complimented, and he smirked wildly.

* * *

**I'm not kidding, I JUST wrote all of this... like it took me less than two hours...**

**Well, looking at my 'ToDo' list, I can see that things are gonig to get VERY fast paced here... very soon too...**

**I hope you all enjoyed, and a special thanks for Megan, (hopefully she will condone me using her in my story as a plot device...)**

**More coming soon...**


	20. Stephen the Difficult

**Stephen the Difficult, or StD for short. Yes, this is planned out by me and my brother (my secondary sick mind to console with and work things out.) That being said, this chapter is a bit more... sick-minded than the others.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

The Monday came and went, and before anyone knew it, it was Tuesday morning.

"Well Daisy, have fun at school," Brunis teased, headed around for some of the 'Prower tools', "be safe sweetie." He gently pressed his muzzle to her mouth and she wrapped her arms around him. "Make sure Brian doesn't get lost or anything, ok?"

"Brunis, I'm not a baby."

"But you're still my little girl."

"True…" Daisy giggled, leading Brian upstairs. "C'mon Brian! We're going to be late!"

The two Prower's ran upstairs into their neighbor's living room. And the two members there were ready for school.

"Sarah, be careful today, Brunis isn't with you to guard you, so… just be a bit extra cautious for mommy?"

"Sure mom…" Sarah sighed, slightly annoyed and embarrassed as her mom gave her a peck on the forehead. Stephen giggled, and that was enough for Sarah to blush a bit, and break from her mom. "Besides, Stephen can protect me if anything happens."

"I… guess you're right…" Amy stammered.

The moment the students left the building, Amy sighed shakily.

"I don't trust that boy…"

"Who?" Her loving husband asked.

"Stephen… assuming Doctor Eggman built him… well… what if he's a last ditch creation, the best one ever, to defeat you? Starting on the emotional level, or something…"

"Amy… you sound so paranoid! I don't think Stephen is going to hurt us. I think he is just a bit scared, and well, finding a bit of a place to hide from his troubles inside our daughter."

Amy looked at Sonic with wide eyes.

"Ok, I'll admit, that was possibly the sickest, scariest thing I've ever said in a long, long time…" They both burst into laughter, and then sighed it off.

"Now let's both get to work… carry me?"

"Of course!" There was never a need for a car with two ultra fast runners in the family.

* * *

Daisy and Sarah were eying each other competitively again, and were starting to pick up the pace as they ran.

"You can never win! You weren't born with supersonic leg muscles!" Sarah taunted as Stephen and brian became dots in the horizon behind them.

"So? I trained to run fast, and, I'm an alien here, so I don't have any set limits for how fast my species can run!"

"That doesn't mean much slowpoke!"

Sarah darted off, followed shortly by a sprinting Daisy.

"Why do they run away so fast?" Stephen moaned.

"I know… girls are so confusing…"

"I think I can agree with that…" The two entered a moment of awkward silence.

"Are we going to make it on time, do you think?"

Stephen closed his eyes, and responded, "yeah, at the speed we're walking, about… no exactly 17 minutes, 32 seconds, now, so that would give us exactly… 2 minutes and 25 seconds to spare right now."

"Whoa! How do you know that?" Brian awed at the talent.

"Well… it is starting to get clearer, before, there was a voice that would say it, not me, but I am starting to learn how to do math really good now, so, it isn't a puzzle to me anymore. I mean, you take our speed, about 3.2 miles per hour, and then the distance to the school, approximately-"

"Dude! You're so smart! I see why my dad finds you so cool…"

"Your dad thinks I'm cool?"

"Yeah… I'm not that smart… but I want to be, I want to be just like my dad when I get older." Brian fiddled with the short vines braided into his hair.

"That's cool… I-I don't know what I want to be when I get older."

"You could do anything! You're so smart!"

"Yeah, I guess…"

"And that morphing thingie! Can you shape your hand into like, a claw or something?"

"Claw?"

"Yeah, like, the claw of a crab!"

"Crab…" Stephen focused really hard. This was something he'd never consciously attempted, shifting the shape of his hands, or any other body part. Stephen's fist slowly began to bubble, and eventually shift into a rigid pincer.

"COOL! OH MY GOSH! Do the other one! Get Crab Hands!" Brian cheered excitedly, Stephen smiled hysterically at his hands, it felt so different.

"Ok…" Stephen's other hand began to morph, and another crab claw appeared.

"WICKED SWEET! Don't change them! Keep them like that, maybe the teachers will excuse you from doing the work!"

"Really? The work is kind of boring sometimes… too easy…" Stephen muttered.

"Yeah, it's like you've got some crab related sickness..."

Stephen chuckled, "I got the crab hands!"

"That's too long, ah, we'll work on a shortened version of it." Brian deduced as they laughed to school.

* * *

Daisy was panting at the steps of school in the horrible air of defeat yet again.

"Daisy, seriously, I mean… never mind. You want some water, or something?"

"Yeah, let's go get some from the fountains. Personally, I do feel a bit… awkward here without Brunis. A buddy, or at least someone I trust a bit, would help with that."

Sarah smiled at helped her friendly rival to the drinking fountain.

As they both took turns drinking, a strong, sharp object pinched lightly on Daisy's arm.

"Ow!"

"I've got Crabs Daisy! I can't write today! Ahahahaha!" Stephen cheered, snapping his claws in front of his face.

"He has Crabs!" Brian joked along with his new friend. **(A/N: What did I tell you?)**

"Oh my fricking- Guys, do you know what crabs- never mind…" Daisy said enthusiastically as she held her head.

"OH MY GOSH! THAT IS SO COOL!" Sarah rushed over to Stephen and his claws.

"I know! Look!" Stephen gently pinched on Sarah's nose, "I got your nose! Ahaha! This is so cool!"

"Stephen." Sarah's voice was strange and deluded, "can you please let go off my nose?"

"Sorry Sarah." Stephen apologized immediately, and then let go of her.

"Get to class you three…" Daisy sighed again, walking away.

"Yeah, that's a good idea, see you later Brian." Stephen agreed, walking next to Sarah, claws open and ready.

"That is SO cool…" Brian's eyes were still bug-eyed as he left the area.

* * *

To say the least, Daisy wasn't surprised as Richard walked into her first class, a big smile on his face.

"I didn't see Brunis today… is he sick?"

"He's build our altar for the wedding this weekend."

"Th-this weekend?" Richard tried to maintain his composure.

"Yeah, Richard, you know that act is so fake; you might as well just drop it."

"It isn't an act Daisy. When your true love denies you, you gain a bit of insight… or rather… just knowledge and wisdom. I feel content with changing my outward appearance."

"Whatever." Daisy sighed, getting on with her work.

Richard looked at her body, lavished every curve and angle within its angelic form. A small excited breath left his lips, and he returned to his class work.

_I can't believe him! He still wants me to be his! I've got to tell him off, again._ "Ok, listen Richard, I know you still like me, but it isn't love, nor am I your true love. I know you just want me as a sex toy, you said so yourself. Please, I feel terribly uncomfortable with you around, please stop talking to me and looking at me like I am the worthless waste around my genitals. Because only one man can have at those, and that's Brunis, so, please, lay off."

"As you wish, Daisy." Richard looked down, a small tear, another act, fell from his face, hurting Daisy a bit.

_Brunis? Where are you when I want you?_

* * *

Brunis was hard at work in the workshop. Just in front of the Power Cannon, he had begun to erect a mighty wooden altar, using a few of the trees, dead of course, that had fallen in the forest above, and it was taking a lot of time.

"Brunis? You want help?"

"No dad, I can do it myself, it is just something that… I feel I have to do alone."

"Stop calling me that Brunis, you're not my son yet." Tails countered, chuckling.

"She's so beautiful…"

"Daisy? Yeah… she takes after her mother a lot more than me…"

"Not true, you have a lot of qualities in her. Cosmo couldn't run fast to save her life, maybe jump, but not run, and not to mention her golden hair."

"Hmm…"

"If… if we have a kid, would that be ok by you?"

"WHAT? YOU SLEPT WITH HER?" Brunis cringed and sunk down at the short foxes yelling, "Brunis, relax, I'm just kidding. I trust you with her virginity as much as I don't trust Richard, if not more. You just better make sure she's ok with it."

"She is." Brunis put a hand by his mouth.

"Again, Brunis, relax, she loves you, and I know she's not a little eight year old anymore. You can do anything you want, just… I don't know. If in which case she gets pregnant, which I know seedrians CAN get impregnated with mammalian DNA, but I don't know the odds, Brian was one in probably a googolplex, make sure she gets a lot to eat, and has a place to rest, because it will be the most painful thing in her life. Cosmo described it to me like trying to expel a baseball, which is the size of the seed, out of your butt."

Brunis looked up into space, and muttered something for a moment. "Dear Celeste, way out there, I don't ever want Daisy to deal with that… I don't even think I could get a baseball out of my butt without surgery."

Blinking again, he went back, now worried about going back to bed with his fiancée.

* * *

Stephen was in math class with Sarah. However, he wasn't doing math. He was learning how to use his newly found ability of morphing his hands. The teacher okayed it when Stephen showed her the physics problem that he made up when he was walking to school, which made everyone's jaw drop.

Presently, he was sitting in the back of the room, one hand back to normal, the other, being pulled outwards, forming a long, floppy tentacle. Letting it go, he experimented with it. It responded to every command he could think like it was perfectly normal for him to have a tentacle.

Looking over at Sarah with a smirk, he let his elongated arm, which was roughly 4 times its normal length, fall to the ground, and he made it snake its way to Sarah's seat. It wrapped around her chair's leg, and then ascended to her shoulder. It tapped her, and then slithered away.

Sarah turned around, and Stephen waved, a good ten feet away with a long tentacle as an arm. He formed words with it then, one letter at a time.

"T-H-I-S-I-S-S-O-C-O-O-L-!" He smiled widely.

Sarah shook her head, trying not to laugh or be envious.

Stephen continued trying new things out. From four fingered hands to elephant legs, he didn't find anything he couldn't do. Eventually, this became a distraction.

"Wow! That's so cool!"

"How does he do that?"

"I want to have twenty fingers!"

"I'm so glad he's my friend." Stephen smirked at this comment.

"Stephen! Will you stop being distracting?"

"I'm just trying new things out Ms. Crothers. I'm sorry." Stephen apologized, hands returning to normal.

"Well, can you please stop it? I'm going to have to send you out into the hall!"

Stephen nodded his head, and waited for everyone to stop looking at him. Then he started right back up again. This time, he stretched his body out, and became a long, string-like shape, almost like a snake. He slithered on the corner of the room, and then, too unnoticeable, he appeared behind the teacher in his normal form.

"So cool…" He whispered, a huge smile on his face.

"STEPHEN!" Ms. Crothers almost hit the ceiling, "IN THE HALL! NOW!" The class giggled, the students won.

Stephen sat outside without a trace of glum; he was getting used to his new, or not so new, ability, and having a lot of fun with it. Locked out, he looked into the window, watching the class from afar.

He looked at the crack in between the floor and the door, and hatched a crazy plan. He placed his head in that crack, and pushed in. His face caved in around him, his eyes closed, and then it materialized on the other side.

"I did it! Woohoo!" Stephen cheered, Ms. Crothers jumping again.

"GET OUTSIDE THE ROOM!"

"I am outside the room, my head just happens to be in the door."

"Grr…" Ms. Crothers strode to the door and opened it, Stephen worked to make sure it didn't flatten him.

"Isn't this cool?" He asked joyously.

"Office, now." She growled.

"I don't know where that is… I've not been here long enough…"

"I'll go with him, Ms. Crothers, I know this place a bit better."

"Fine… get him out of my sight."

Sarah walked Stephen to the office with a troubled look on her face.

"Sarah? What's wrong?"

"Stephen, I know it's cool, but don't show off like that, I mean, I don't want you to get in trouble…"

"Oh, ok then… my apologies…"

"And when did you get so smart? I mean, velocity distance and acceleration? That's like, big people talk! When did you learn this?"

"Yesterday, I think… I read one of Mr. Prower's physics books." Stephen announced happily.

"Stephen… just, please behave yourself a bit."

"Ok, Sarah." Stephen beamed, as Sarah's hand grabbed onto his and led him away to the office, changing shape as she held it to various shapes.

* * *

**Ok, that was it, now I've got to get to bed... swimming in the morning... unngh...**

**More coming soon...**


	21. Savior

**As a first note, anyone who emails me, I am sorry for not responding as much, and well, that's swimming for ya, but, I'd like to ask nicely if you could keep it to a minimum of 1 message between us, because I feel REALLY overwhelmed with 47 emails and growing between my fans, family, and the almighty being one refers to as 'girlfriend'. Even if you do not limit them, I will find ways to only respond once. Thank you's in advance.**

**Also, this chapter will be borderline M rated. (No comment.)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Richard stalked Daisy as she left the class. He was sure she had no idea of what was going to happen next.

The time was perfect; Brunis was gone, her bodyguard, and Richard's was waiting in the bush outside school for a signal of Richard's choosing. The moment she came out of lunch for a bit of Recess, when no one was watching, he'd give chase, and then his bodyguard would nab her the second they got out of range.

Lunch was next, and that was the glory of it all, waiting quietly with the rest of the popular kids, he stared the golden flower from afar.

* * *

Stephen and Sarah came back from the office. Stephen had a detention, and was to sit at a special table where no one was allowed to sit at, away from everyone else, in order to eat his lunch.

"Sorry Stephen, I can't sit with you for lunch this time."

"It's fine, I'll just deal with it for now…"

"I'll stay at the closest table to you, and I won't go outside, ok?"

"Really?" Stephen was confused, "don't give up your recess on my detention, it's mine, not yours, seriously, go have fun, I can handle being alone for a bit."

"But I don't want that." Sarah's hand came to her mouth for a brief moment, and then it went back down slowly, Stephen didn't hear or respond to it. _What the heck did I just say? Oh my gosh… I mean… jeez… I would rather be near him doing nothing than going out and playing games with the other kids… weird…_ Sarah blinked, hoping that Stephen would respond at all.

The moment they had their food, they drifted apart, sitting a table away, too far away to talk to each other. Sarah could help but feel that the distance was antagonizing.

Lunch for the four, Brian included, was very quiet, and very quick.

* * *

In a large crowd, Daisy was the first of the two families to leave the building; followed shortly after by Richard and then Brian.

Daisy strode in solitude towards the tree, the very tree she and Brunis first kissed. She had fond memories of that tree, and frequently loved the warm feelings the tree gave her. Talking to plants, well, she and her mother were great at doing it, not Brian as much, however. The trees didn't have a voice, so to speak, just a feeling that Cosmo and daisy could easily pick up. Whether that feeling was thirsty, mournful, bright, agitated, or flirtatious, it wasn't hard for them. This tree in particular was constantly in a state of euphoria, and whenever Daisy walked by it, the tree's emotions skyrocketed, it loved Daisy like a child.

As she sat down in the tree's roots, vivid images of Brunis and she entered her head; how the silver wolf boldly dove down to save her fall, and landed a few feet away from the tree. The tree remembered that very well, in fact, the whole image was from the tree's perspective.

The moment she opened her eyes, she wished she kept them closed.

"Richard, what do you want?"

"To sweep you off your feet like the good knight I am." Richard really thought she wanted him, or so it seemed.

"Richard, leave me alone."

"I am afraid that is impossible. I can see that you don't even know what you want anymore. Brunis is something you can't have. I won't let you be near that horrid molester. I'll treat you far better than he ever would, come with me, I'm the better of the two. In fact, I'm the only one."

"No. I want Brunis, go away."

"Nope. You're coming with me." Richard ordered as he grabbed Daisy's wrist.

"Let go!" Daisy commanded, Richard only tightened his grip. "I said let go!" Daisy smacked Richard hard on the side of the face. Normally, this would've gain a lot of attention, but Richard chose practicality over popularity this time, and no one was around to distract them.

"No! Not this time Daisy. This time, you're mine!" Richard pulled her, her feet sliding on the ground.

Daisy thrashed around violently, arms and legs flying around her in a crazed fury. Richard's grasp only became greater. Until Daisy hit him, that is.

One of Daisy's feet whacked Richard in the jaw very hard, and Richard was dazed for a brief second, letting Daisy go.

And then she ran.

"CHARLES!" The hurt cat called loud enough for the trained sprinter to hear.

Daisy didn't notice him until he hit her. Coming at her like a train, she blinked once, and hit him at a collision speed of roughly 21 miles per hour. It would've been greater, but she hadn't the time to speed up and get to any top speeds.

She was knocked out for a moment, and Charles hoisted her limp body over his shoulder like a burglar would his loot. The tall bodyguard then lumbered over to Richard, and awaited orders.

"Let's drive home now… you can give her to me." Richard opened his arms and let Daisy's frail body rest in his arms, and he quickly gave her a small shot of sedative. Daisy's breathing slowed drastically as she fell off into slumber in his arms.

Charles brought forth the limousine that Richard always drove, and the duo and hostage drove off quickly, skipping school.

* * *

The moment Sarah was done with her food, she turned around, Stephen was doing work around the cafeteria, part of the detention. He walked around, carrying the chairs around and helpings the lunch aids clean everything up while the rest of the kids went outside to play.

Sarah stayed, watching her friend clean up.

"Miss, you have to go outside." One of the lunch aids told her.

Sarah was shocked, she wasn't going anywhere. "No."

"Why don't you go outside?"

"I'm waiting for my friend."

"That's not an excuse, go outside."

"No." Sarah was a stubborn as her father sometimes. Once either of them got set on a goal, there was no changing course.

"Do you want a detention?"

Sarah grinned at the lunch aid, "Yes, actually."

"Fine, go pick up chairs and stack them over there." The man pointed in a general direction.

Sarah's nose was high as she walked away, she had won.

"Sarah? What are you doing?" Stephen questioned, his brow furrowed. Sarah suddenly realized she'd been holding a breath.

_What? Why did I just gasp a bit?_ "I got a detention."

"What did you do?"

"I didn't go outside."

"Why not?"

"I… I don't know… I figured it was more fun with you…" _Doing nothing with him, or do something outside with random people, and I choose him? What the heck?_

"Ok then…" Stephen chuckled.

Sarah could get about two chairs at a time, Stephen could get about three, and then drag four more with a tentacle arm, but the lunch aids didn't like the dragging, so he only carried his three.

Sarah was using her super speed, so it was partially unfair if they had been competing, but they were still getting their jobs done.

Though, with her large load, Sarah didn't see a small puddle of milk on the ground, and she sped straight through it, losing her footing. The chairs started to fall out of her hands as she slipped, and she watched them drop closer towards her face.

She was shocked when something soft pressed up against the back of her head before she fell, and even more shocked when two silver arms, long and wiggly, wrapped around the falling stools, and eased them down before they crushed her. She was never hit.

Looking up, she saw Stephen's expression, half shocked, half impressed with himself. "Wow, I didn't think I was going to make that one… the math was a quick estimate. I still am amazed that my jump made it- Sarah? Are you ok?" Stephen noted Sarah's blank stare.

"Y-yeah… thanks Stephen… that would've hurt. Are YOU ok?"

"You said so yourself that I am made of rubbery stuff, so, it didn't hurt. I felt funky being squashed by you, but I can live with that discomfort." Again, he was using big people words that Sarah felt a bit shocked by, "at that angle with your hyper velocity you would've gotten a concussion at the very least. There was a 17 percent chance of you cracking your head open, and a 49 percent chance of you sustaining brain damage. I don't want that to happen to you, you're a nice person…" Stephen then stopped talking, his silvery grey skin turning a brighter, warmer, pinkish color.

_Is-is he blushing? Why is he blushing? I mean, I should be blushing; he saved me… again... _Sarah's mind rushed wildly in those few moments.

They didn't move for the longest time, worried about what the other would think, as if it was rude to get off of, or get out from underneath from, the other. The chairs were set down, but Stephen hung onto them, one folding gently over Sarah. The lunch aids didn't find them, they were too low to the ground.

The bell was the force that pushed them away from each other.

* * *

The moment school ended, Brunis was found waiting for his fiancée. He was done with their altar for their marriage schedule for that Saturday, and he was eager to see her face again. They'd been apart too long.

Sarah, Stephen, and Brian all came out of the building on time, and Brunis shrugged it off, Daisy could be a bit late if she needed to be. But when people stopped coming out of the building, Brunis became a bit frightened.

"Where's Daisy?" He asked the three younglings.

"Um… I saw her leave for lunch… I… I don't think I saw her after that though… she went over by your guy's tree." Brian answered.

"You guys go home, ok? I'll be back with Daisy or not at all."

"Want me to come with you?" Sarah's eyes got hopeful, yearning for action and adventure.

"No." Brunis's voice was flat and solid.

The hulking silver wolf started walking, slightly too quickly, back into the building while the rest of them went home, trudging the path glumly, wishing they could've went on a hunt for Daisy.

* * *

Sonic was looking at the puzzle Tails had found on the internet, a part of his massive buying and selling sprees on online auctions, and flipped the squares around. Brain power was not Sonic's forte, and he was supposed to give the cube to Stephen, just to see if he could get it, but of course, the blue blur found it a challenge, and he didn't back out of most challenges.

"Gah! I hate this stupid cube!" Sonic growled as he messed up one of the sides he had completed, accidentally yet again.

"Dad? What's wrong?" Sarah obviously was alert to the noises her father had been making.

"Stephen, you solve it." Sonic quickly jumped to the occasion to make himself feel better by not only getting rid of the wretched cube, but also make himself feel smarter; no kid could solve it.

"Solve it?"

"Rotate those sides around, and get it so every side is only one color. Tails called it a Rubix Cube."

"Rubix… cool…" Stephen fumbled with the cube, not messing the colors around, just looking at all of the sides. **(A/N: Yep, Stephen and the Cube.)**

* * *

Brunis stared at the picture on the screen of Quasar's, or XT's, security system, ready to explode. Quasar leaned away from him, worried at what he could accomplish at this pinnacle of enragement.

He said nothing, but his eyes spoke for him. Two gleaming orbs, capable of holding flames, glared with a black stare, only one emotion in them, death, at the image of Richard the Cat hauling off his fiancée towards a limousine.

Minutes passed, and finally, the wolf spoke.

"I," Quasar's head twitched sideways with fear and curiosity at his sudden words, "am going… to… kill… him."

Brunis blinked twice, and then started running as fast as he could, making his way to a house he'd been to once. The ride on the plane was about half a minute, and Tails was traveling very fast. It would take a while.

Too bad for Richard that Brunis learned two things while spending time with Daisy: One, Daisy likes to run really fast, and likes it when her fiancé can keep up with her at a quick speed; and two, Daisy doesn't like stopping, in many things, and she doesn't want her significant other to stop doing whatever they're doing, ever. **(A/N: That was a terribly bad innuendo... lol.)**

* * *

Daisy woke in a strange bed.

"Oh no…" Daisy groaned, opening her eyes to the all-too familiar sight of Richard's fourth guest bedroom. Richard wasn't there immediately, but she knew he'd be there in a minute.

As if on cue, Richard strolled into the room to find Daisy, feigning sleep.

"Ah my love, I've saved you from that poor, impoverished life to come live with me again! Do you want to take a shower? Freshen up?" Richard stroked her hair, speaking to her softly, "I know you're sleeping, but still, wake up for your King?"

Daisy retrained herself. Mentally, she screamed very loudly. _RICHARD! YOU ARE NOT MY KING! BRUNIS IN MY KING AND I LOVE HIM! GO AWAY YOU MENTALLY DEPRIVED SNOB! ARRRRRRRRRRRGHH! _However, she dared not make another move, if she was awake, Richard would expect her to be awake.

"Ok, have it your way, my Queen, eventually, I will marry you, and we can have kids to carry on this wondrous legacy.

"EWW!" She couldn't restrain herself there.

"You're awake!" Richard said gleefully.

"Get away from me you sick slime! How DARE you take me away from my fiancé and the bearer of any future children I will have! This is downright low! You've kidnapped me!"

"For the sole, and glorious, purpose of making you my own Queen." Richard jumped over her and tried to pin her down.

Every one of her limbs was locked down, and Richard forced his mouth on hers, kissing her as deeply as he could, forcing his tongue into her. Daisy did her best to be unresponsive and a nuisance.

Biting down on his tongue, Daisy kicked him off using the opportunity of his shock and pain to kick him off of the bed. She got up and started running, trying to find an exit.

There were no guards in the house, save only one, guarding the entrance and exit to all of the bedrooms and showers, and no one else seemed to be home. Daisy ran to that guard, but he just pushed her aside like the leafy plant she was.

"Daisy come back here!" Richard growled, chasing her to that entrance.

"EEEEEEK!" And she leapt over him, getting snagged by his exposed claws on his little hands.

Her shirt was ripped to the point of hanging off, showing off her undergarments, and her skirt had three tears in it too. She kept running, making sure there was an exit she missed; there wasn't. As an act of desperation, she lunged into a strange room, and hid herself under the bed, hoping he'd not find her. _I'm so fricking screwed… Brunis?! Where are you honey? Help me out… please…_

"Come out and play little Daisy!" Richard smiled sadistically as he strode into the room he knew Daisy was it. Locking the door with a laser lock in his jacket, he started prowling the vicinity.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a piece of white and gold fabric on the corner of the underside of the bed, but he just grinned and ignored it. Searching around again, purposely not looking under the bed, he took off his jacket, and disappeared from Daisy's view.

Too traumatized to think, Daisy looked around from the underside of the low bed, and tried to find Richard. Feeling two hands grab at her feet was not her idea of finding him.

Richard picked her up from underneath, and lifted her upside down in front of him while standing on the bed.

"What have we got here?" He smirked again, biting off what was left of her blouse.

Daisy shook violently in futile attempts to escape.

"LET GO!"

"NO! I've waited too fricking long for this!" Richard licked his lips at the sight of Daisy's dress flipped up.

Daisy tried to kick, but got nowhere, Richard had become too strong. Dropping her for a second, Daisy fell to the ground, and Richard pounced on her, now on the ground right beside the bed. He tore off her panties, and grabbed her wrists again.

"Not this time! Not this time!" His voice thick with lust and rage. **(A/N: Think Gollum from the Lord of the Rings... lol.)**

With every fabric of her being, Daisy said no. She pushed and shoved, and heaved all of her strength, and threw Richard at the bedpost, breaking it slightly.

She grabbed his jacket, and got out the lock and opened the door. Then, she ran like a wild flower, which was very wild indeed.

* * *

**There IS an extra chapter that acts as a bridge between this one and the next one, and yes, it is a lemon, however short. I know you people hate my lemons that end up like this... but yeah... I was writing so fast, and it all happend so quickly... I may have been high off of orange juice when I wrote it... as I WAS drinking orange juice for dinner...**

**Ah, nevermind... send me a PM or in the review if you want it.**

**More coming soon...**


	22. Wanted

**My apologies for the blandness of the last chapter, (not the one inbetween, but I'm sorry for that too.) I hadn't really realized how much I'm overusing the threat of sexual assault as a plot device... Have no fear, it will, for the most part, not be like that from now on. I have had the story planned out for awhile now, and I assure you, it will become more... Classic Sonic Style from now on, (as far as I know, that is...)**

**Well, I haven't much to say...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Stephen and Sarah were in their room again, but this time was different. Stephen absolutely refused to sleep in the same bed as Sarah. He was placed there, but he crawled out and sat on a lounging chair in her room, fiddling with the cube he was given.

_Why am I so eaten up by this?_ Sarah moaned inside her head. A deep pit, like she hadn't eaten in days, way forming in her stomach. Stephen not being near her, _but he IS near me. He's sitting five feet further away than he was before! Why does this bother me? WHY?_ Sarah groaned again.

"Sarah? Are you ok?"

"Not really… I'm kind of sad. Why don't you want to sleep in the same bed as me?" _Do I smell? Do you really not like me? Am I annoying? Please, tell me something, I'll fix it… just sleep next to me? EEK! What am I saying?_ Sarah blushed, and then stopped talking.

"No… I just… feel strange being that close to you… like I shouldn't be."

"Why not?" Sarah was practically pleading at this point.

"Because. I feel like you should sleep by yourself, rather than have to share it."

_That is the worst excuse of an answer Stephen, it is so obvious you're hiding something from me. Tell me? Please? _Sarah had no idea what he was hiding, but she knew it was negative.

Stephen's mind churned with thoughts. He wanted two things from Sarah at this point. One, he didn't want to be next to her because he was afraid of the warm, tingly feeling she gave him. It was as if some electric current ran through her, and he only started noticing this recently. Second, he wanted time alone, away from her, to spend with, oddly enough, Mr. Prower, and maybe Mr. Rose too. Both of them were wise, old adults, and they knew more than Stephen did. He wanted to consult with them about a very peculiar matter, one that'd been racking his brain for the past few days, ever since he started looking at Sarah differently; love.

Stephen wanted to research love, and to do that, he knew two guys who seemed to be experts. He _needed_ to know this, as it wasn't truly defined in any books. He'd seen examples of it, but what _was _it? He didn't know, and he needed Sarah to fall asleep to find out; mainly because he would feel embarrassed if she knew.

Sarah's mind slowed as the constant clicking of Stephen's cube echoed quietly in her room. Stephen's however became obsessed with the puzzle. It was hard, but he was mentally getting very far with it, learning tricks and algorithms that only he could know about it.

After around 15 minutes of Sarah being asleep, Stephen held the completed cube in the light, smiling at it.

With the cube in his hand, he snuck out of the room quietly, walking over to the living room, he'd hit Tails first. The moment he reached the rug covering the hole, he looked around, making sure he wouldn't be followed.

After a second or so of sliding down, he appeared in the cool grey workshop that Tails and his family now lived in.

Cosmo was sitting on a couch with her husband, shaking slightly.

"She's not back yet, and it is the middle of the night…" She shuddered, Tails rubbing her back.

"Mr. Prower, uh… I have a question for you." Stephen asked squeakily.

"Oh! Stephen, what is it?" Tails hopped up, brightening Cosmo's mood with a different subject.

"I want, no, I need to know, what is love?" Stephen asked the wise fox as he took a seat.

"Ah, Stephen, it is something… well, technically speaking, it is the attraction and the tender, caring feeling you have for someone or something." Stephen settled down a bit more, satisfied, "however," Stephen's 'ears' perked up, "that is not all. An old friend of mine, XT-421, you met him once, was an expert on the subject. There are a lot of hormones involved for love between two people, and those react strangely within you to create feelings that seem stupid and dumb but make you and another person feel very special to each other. There is much more, but I'm not the qualified to answer it, really…"

"Hmm…" Stephen looked at the cube for a moment in a state of boredom.

"You solved it? How?"

"Not that hard, you just flip the right pattern down, and you can solve it easily." Stephen answered with brevity.

"Could you solve it again?" Tails messed up the cube and handed it to Stephen.

"Yeah, watch." Stephen took about two minutes, and put the cube back into it's original state. "Easy."

"My gosh, you're a genius…" Tails awed.

"Do you mind if I sleep down here?"

"Why?" Cosmo questioned for her loving husband.

"I'm afraid of sleeping in the same bed as Sarah, I may wake her up…" Cosmo grinned widely, and sent Stephen off to another room.

"He's another sucker for love! Cosmo declared, happy until she related this to Daisy, and then went into her depressive state again.

* * *

Brunis tore the driveway to shreds as he thundered to Richard's front door. With a hi-jump-kick, he busted down the whole wooden frame around the door, and started charging his way into the facility. No one stopped him, no one was there.

A single guard stood in his way as he ploughed through the house, and with a solid punch in the gut, the man fell over with a bit of puke. Following this lead, a guard, he made a turn, and started kicking down bedroom doors on the first floor. In one of the rooms, he found shreds of Daisy's blouse and her panties, which made him howl in fury, matched only to that of a wild, hungry animal, hungry for blood.

"Daisy! You're mutt is here! Gah! I will kill him for us!" Richard grunted, getting off a much defiled Daisy, too shaken up to move; that, and her hands and neck were bound together by a metal bond. He clothes were mostly ripped off, save only her lower dress, but even then, her panties were gone, so it made little difference.

Richard got out a taser, and aimed it for the door. As if fate decided it, Brunis knocked down the door and saw Daisy. His enraged eyes met her fearful ones, and she remembered why she loved and feared him; he was a ferocious beast when angered.

"Ha!" Brunis's chest was hit by the taser, and the blue light shocked him to the core, making him fall down.

"Who's the best now, mutt? I have the girl, and you're on the ground, too shocked to moved." Richard kicked Brunis in the side hard, making him gasp for breath, only to get zapped again. **(A/N: Cue Monologue:)**

"Shall I remove half of your face first? Or maybe break your wrist? Or maybe, I should take your _fiancée's _virginity, AGAIN, with you here as an audience." Daisy's face fell down again, making a bit of the white goop that covered her body to become more obvious and apparent.

Richard zapped the wolf with all of his energy again, and watched the canine creature twitch and spasm on the ground.

Daisy was beaten, bruised, and exhausted from abuse and overworking, she couldn't move a finger if she wanted to.

"Now, watch as I take your wannabe wife as my own you dumb dog." Richard jammed the zap trigger in place, and walked over to Daisy, who, at this point, didn't do much to struggle.

Brunis wailed in pain as Richard hovered over his fiancée, and started feeling her up in front of him.

"NO!!" Brunis roared above the zaps which were started to reach a critical level, pulsating towards his chest and heart as he witnessed the most gruesome sight he'd ever seen.

His cry was silenced then, and he feel on the floor, twitching. Richard went over to check his pulse, making sure that he hadn't killed him yet. He found no pulse. **(A/N: GASP!)**

"I… I killed him…" Richard said it with big, shocked eyes at first, "I killed… him." Richard's eyes widened and he started jumping for glee, "I killed him! I killed him! I killed Brunis! Daisy is mine! All mine!" Richard jumped over to Daisy and licked her lips and kissed her like mad, "You're mine Daisy, forever and ever! And no Brunis will get in our way!"

Daisy only sobbed.

"None of that!" Richard snapped, smacking her face, "there will be no crying over Brunis, or mention of Brunis, ever! Understood?"

Daisy tried to nod.

Brunis stopped twitching for a moment, and then, in a deft move, got up and, with pale, malignant eyes, he grabbed Richard by the neck. **(A/N: Brunis, the B is for Badass.)**

"NEVER! EVER! EVER! TAKE! MY! WIFE!" Richard was thrown into the wall, and the once dead wolf pinched the metal off of Daisy's neck and arms, allowing her to move, she didn't yet.

"You killed me! I will kill you! I'll tear you to shreds! I eat you alive! I'll murder you one square inch at a time! Skin you! Burn you! Sell your organs to Malavar! DIE!" Brunis lunged at Richard, smacking him and slashing at him brutally.

"STOP!" Daisy demanded.

Brunis did as his fiancée instructed. "Why should I?" He growled, unable to hide his contempt for both the comment and the worthless excuse of flesh he'd seen yet in front of him.

"No more fighting! No more… I… don't… want anymore… trouble…"

Richard, against the wall, cowered before the fierce anger of Brunis, in fear too intense to describe.

"Fine Daisy, let's get you home." With one more punch on Richard's head, knocking him out cold, Brunis picked up Daisy, and broke the glass window, ready to start walking home.

For the longest time, Daisy remained curled up, more than half naked, in Brunis's arms, traumatized.

The moment Brunis reached a stream, he began to help Daisy wash the remnants of Richard off of her.

"Brunis…" Daisy looked at him, her body as limp as a dead fish.

"Don't worry Daisy, I'm here, ok? I love you… I'm here…" Brunis gently pressed his lips to hers, and her whole body relaxed.

"I'm so sorry!" She wailed at random.

"Shush, shush… it'll be fine…"

"No! No, it won't be fine! I slept with another man! There was another person _inside_ me! That's not right! That's not-"

"You didn't sleep with him, you were raped by him, there's a difference. Honey, I, I don't want you to worry so much… I'm here, we're getting married, the altar's done, you're back to safe and sound in my arms, I'll protect you, and from now on, I swear I won't ever let you out of my sight, even if that means going into a women's bathroom…" He paused, "Ok, maybe not that far… but still…"

"I love you." Daisy grabbed his face and started kissing him, trying to gain some reassurance. The two lovebirds, shaken from their nest, remained like that for a great portion of the night.

* * *

Richard awoke in the middle of the night, bleeding and unaware.

"Oh Daisy…" He moaned with his eyes still closed. Feeling around, and finding no bed, no Daisy, but instead, blood, his eyes darted open. "BRUNIS! HOW DARE YOU TAKE HER!" He suddenly recalled the events.

Running to his bedside, he called the first number that came to his head.

"9-1-1 emergency… yes, I've been robbed, and there was a kidnapping." Richard smirked as his new plot erected in his head. **(A/N: *Insert evil organ music here*)**

* * *

Brunis and Daisy arrived at their home in the morning, an hour before they were supposed to get up for school.

"DAISY!" Cosmo wailed as she ran to her daughter, unclothed and unconscious in Brunis's arms. "What the hell happened to her?"

"Richard." Brunis sat down on the porch, Cosmo tending to her daughter, looking at all of the bruises and teeth marks on her skin, all just large enough to draw her blood.

"I will kill that boy! He beat my daughter!" Cosmo's eyes, again, flared with flames.

"He… he did more than that Cosmo… look at her hair… the one place I couldn't clean well enough…" Brunis grumbled hopelessly, running a small fingernail through her hair as gently as he could, cutting through the clumps of hair banded together by a strange substance.

"What… what is that?" Cosmo looked closer and glared at the substance. "N-no…" Cosmo fell back, "the one possible… why now… Brunis?!" Cosmo hugged her son-in-law and started crying.

"I swear on everything that I stand for, I won't let her out of my sight again, ever. I will always be within a minute of her, at all times…" Brunis started crying too. He had failed at protecting the only thing he felt was worth protecting in his life.

Tails wandered outside, having just woken up from his wife's loud sobbing.

"Is everything alright- Daisy!" Tails glared at her condition, and deducted the worst from the start, "he… Richard? He… no… NO!" Tails picked Daisy and ran with the others to the living room, where they tended to the naked flower.

"What's going on- oh my…" Sonic rushed back into his room at the sick sight of Daisy, making sure his wife didn't come out.

Tails vanished into the basement for a second, finding some clothing for his adopted daughter. The moment he was back, he gave Cosmo the nightgown, too frightened to place it on Daisy himself.

Daisy, now dressed in a green nightgown, lay on Brunis's lap, unconscious and exhausted. Tails and Cosmo sat next to Brunis as he sat on the couch watching some TV, waiting for Daisy to wake up. His claws gently ran through her hair, combing it, getting out any gunk he previously missed, and kissed her softly on her peachy forehead.

"Oh my gosh, Brunis!" Cosmo squeaked, pointing to the bottom of the TV.

"What?" Brunis looked up and let his eyes focus on the warning sign.

"_Wanted: Brunis the Wolf. Wanted for kidnapping, burglary, and assault and battery on the Grand Cat Mansion. Suspect was last seen in association with criminal Miles Tails Prower and his daughter Daisy Prower. Brunis is a strong wolf, if anyone is to see him, they are to report to the police immediately, they will subdue this vile criminal."_

Brunis stared at the strip of red and white on the bottom of the TV and felt his anger creeping up on him. His muscles tensed, and a burning desire began to build within him to go back and finish the job of killing Richard.

"Don't…" A weak Daisy grabbed feebly at Brunis's leg. "If you… kill him… it will only get… worse…"

"Daisy! He kidnapped you! He raped you! He beat you! And now he's accusing me of doing all of that, along with the one crime I did commit, beating the royal shit out of him, and all you can do is say don't? That kid should be burned alive for that!" Brunis growled, tears welling in his deep eyes.

Daisy glared back at Brunis, their first real fight, done only in the eyes. Brunis's look softened for a moment, and sympathy washed over his eyes, he realized what he was doing. Daisy began to sob.

"I'm sorry…" She sniffled, "about… everything!" Gasps for air broke her sentences. Cosmo and Tails walked away into the kitchen, giving Daisy and Brunis a moment of privacy.

"I-I know Daisy… I just can't stand it… I failed the one promise I made, if not to you verbally, then to you mentally… the one-the one where you wanted me to be that knight who'd do everything for you, to protect you from all that you needed protection from. I don't want you hurt…"

"And I would rather that I suffer for everyone to thrive… if living in peace means getting raped by Richard, and living with Richard, then so be it… I don't want anyone else to suffer because of me…" Daisy looked down, worried.

"But I will be grieved, because I want to hog you all for myself." Brunis attempted to be playful.

"I can tell…" Daisy weakly smiled.

"You're not going back to Richard… and I will stalk you at school if that is that necessary."

"It won't be."

"Yes it will, you got kidnapped in the ONE day that I couldn't help you."

"No, it won't happen because I'm staying home with you until I'm your wife."

Brunis looked at her smiled, and kissed her head sweetly.

"I love you." Both said it in exact unison.

* * *

**Not kidding, I am updating because I had a cold day in school today... too cold to go to school. THat doesn't happen often here... I mean, I live up there in the North, but still... it isn't THAT common... Fine by me though, more computer time.**

**More coming soon...**


	23. Epiphany

**My apologies in advance for the length, I will try to update again before this elongated weekend is over... And, for those who have complained about the lack of "Classic Sonic" style, I have started watching SonicX again just to refresh myself as to why I write Sonic the Hedgehog fanfictions.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Stephen fiddled more with the cube that night, unable to get any sleep. Love he now knew, but nothing more than textual information. He'd seen it too, but he'd never experienced it. He wished he could, but he needed more information. _For example… what do people do when they're in love?_ He thought to himself.

Getting out of bed, he snuck around the basement, leading up to Sarah's house. He glanced quickly around, not wanting to get caught or questioned, and then crept around to find a couple of lovebirds.

Brunis and Daisy were asleep on the couch, Daisy's hands intertwined with Brunis's. Stephen made note of this, and continued to watch them as they slept for a little bit. He wasn't in the least bit tired.

The two sighed in their sleep, still speaking to each other partially. They may have been awake, but Stephen knew better. They were just sleep talking, but still to the other. Things like "I love you," "Brunis…" and "Daisy…" came from their sleepy moans frequently. They weren't even doing anything, but it still sounded strange.

After getting bored with them, Stephen wandered off again. This time, he ventured towards Cosmo and Tails' room. The two had snuck off to give Brunis and Daisy privacy, and ended up sleeping on the floor in another room, not designated for sleeping.

In there, there was a strange smell. Stephen had smelled in near Brunis and Daisy, but, smelling it again made him curious. It wasn't a real scent, but he knew he smelled something different, and the whole room was drenched in it.

_What is that?_ Stephen wondered in his head, sniffing the air in any vain attempts to register it.

Cosmo's hands were tangled in Tails' chest fur, and Tails' hands around her. The two were on top of one another, blanket covering them from the lower back down.

_Love must be a touchy-feely thing… that and very verbal… but what is that smell?_ Stephen deduced and questioned, still smelling.

Boredom hit sooner here than before, and he found himself wandering into Sonic and Amy's room, both still awake yet unaware at his intrusion.

"I don't trust him Sonic, I don't know why… he's just really strong, and he's always near her… what if something bad happens? What if Sarah gets hurt?" Amy shook slightly as Stephen peeked into the room, the smell ever-present.

"Nothing's going to happen Amy. Think about it, Stephen's a good kid, he's just really curious, and slightly… strange. I'm sure he wouldn't do anything to hurt our daughter." Sonic kissed Amy's forehead and ticked her ear with his hand.

"I love you Sonic, but your cool collected attitude is not rubbing off on me here… I feel I have to be paranoid about this… I would love for you to think the same, but…"

"But then Sarah wouldn't be hanging out with her friend, which, I'm sorry, is kind of mean, and I do want Sarah to be happy. That was half the reason of moving over here…" Sonic explained quietly.

"Agreed… she will be a great person one day… just like her father…" Amy smiled warmly at Sonic's face.

"And her mother too." Sonic reminded her with another smile.

_Just like best friends… but more… that smell… it got stronger… it has something to do with them…_

"Stephen…" A very quiet voice called from the window behind him.

The grey hedgehog, or hedgehog-lookalike, turned to see a figure in the window, it looked eerily familiar.

"XT?" He asked, remembering him from his early learning days. **(A/N: I'm trying to refrain from using him too much, but, he's pretty useful at times...)**

"Yeah, it's me…" the robot whispered, "I don't have much time, I've got to go to another world REALLY soon, but, I can help you out just a bit…"

"With?"

"That smell. It is the hormones levels, somehow, you can smell it. I can, but I'm built to interpret everything, so, yeah, I'm just special like that."

"Hormones? What are those?"

"When anyone loves something, some hormones are released, and they differentiate in composition, smell, and purpose, but they all tie into love. The ones you've been sensing have been mostly serotonin, most likely a little bit of oxytocin and vasopressin… what they mean, well, you'll figure out over time, but, for now… ooh I've got to go soon… take this."

In front of Stephen a green mist formed, and began to condense.

"What is this?" Stephen grabbed the small disk that the green mist had formed into.

"A DVD of some of the lovers I've helped over time. You want to analyze lovers? Watch that, rather than spying on the innocent. Sayonara Stephen, we'll meet soon. I've got a date with my girlfriend! WOOT!" XT began to cackle as stepped backwards, vaporizing into a burst of light mist.

With the mist gone, XT was no longer in the window.

Stephen's closed then opened once more, trying to register that quick event. If it wasn't for the green DVD in his hands, he would've thought he was dreaming.

Seeing as he was told not to spy on people, he went into the living room and disappeared into the Workshop to watch his movie for the remainder of the night.

Upon popping it in, his eyes got big. The lovers on the screen, to him, they made it all piece together. Hugging, kissing, holding hands, the "I love you" statements, all was made clear. Stephen folded his hands and tilted his head sideways as all of the information he desired was being brought forth to him.

He related it into the situations he saw every day, and then, it started to make sense.

"But I still want to feel this kind of love… hmm… how?" He wondered as he drifted off to sleep in the midst of the night.

* * *

Sarah was running, from what, she barely could tell. She heard the clanking of machines behind her closing in on her at a rapid pace.

"GET THE GIRL!" A rotund human roared behind her, probably inside a machine.

Sarah didn't think, she just ran. Her parents were captured by these people, or so she thought, and nothing but her speed, which wasn't giving her much advantage, was keeping her from the same fate. She panted and groaned, sweat pouring from her as her footsteps pierced the silence of the dark night.

Suddenly, spotlights were on her, and she was trapped by a barricade of machines. She jumped and used one of her mostly unused homing attacks on them, but she just fell back, shocked due to electricity.

"Muhohohoho! Look what we have here…" A voice, embedded into her subconsciousness since the moment she was born, called.

Sarah cringed on the soft dirt and didn't move; maybe he wouldn't catch her if she stayed utterly still. Maybe he didn't see her.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a massive gloved hand grabbed the neck of her neck, and painfully pulled up. She was in partial paralysis, due to an old instinct given to mammals which normally didn't have hands to pick up their young. The man lifted her face to his and he glared into her eyes through his goggles.

"Sarah Rose. Long time no see. I thought you'd put up more of a fight."

_EGGMAN! NO! _Sarah only wished she could scream. This was the same enemy that plagued her nightmares and bedtime stories that her mother told her.

Only this time, it wasn't Sonic, her father, who was winning.

"Both of your parents are in custody, would you want to see them?" He chuckled, tossing her against another robot, giving her an electric shock.

Her eyelids closed again, and she faded from consciousness.

A few moments later, she woke up, and she was in a jail cell. Robots were everywhere, and hustling about, going nowhere. There were no windows, only a dim, flickering fluorescent light.

Looking around her cell, Sarah cringed again. Two sets of bones were in the corner, blue and pink fur, singed, was scattered around them.

"NO!" She screamed, crawling back against the wall.

"I said they were in custody, not alive and in custody. HA! You really thought I would spare them? I want to eradicate Sonic, and ALL that aid him! That includes you, and your mother, for being his family… Now Sarah Rose… you will join their corpses."

The moment he was done speaking through the speaker, an arm dropped from the ceiling. A claw was mounted on the end, and between the two pincers, a blue line of ambient energy.

She was about to die, and there was nothing she could do.

_CRASH_

Out of seemingly nowhere, a grey blur dropped from the floor above, taking down a couple robots in his path. The figure that stood on the piece of falling ceiling glanced at Sarah, giving her a cocky "I can do anything" look.

This figured filled her with hope and, despite her parents deaths, she felt extremely happy.

The figure, quick, agile, and lethal with his changing extremities, was all over the place, destroying robots and ripping out power cords. Sarah watched him intently, a strange feeling washing over her, making everything else vanish, but this figure. Unfortunately, the fierce electricity of the claw that continued to approach her woke her from this daze. The electricity coursed through her small, furred body, burning her insides in ways she didn't know could hurt.

Then it all suddenly stopped, and the grey figure had the claw in his hands broken. Robots were firing lasers everywhere, and Sarah felt herself be dragged upwards by this figure; her parent's deaths completely eradicated from her mind. This grey figure was taller, stronger, and a bit manlier than the Stephen she knew, but it was still Stephen, no doubts about it.

He had her in his arms, and he ravaged the base in which she was kept in as they both escaped. In minutes, they were free from the base and standing in a grassy plain.

The robots were all gone, and no one was chasing them anymore. Stephen set Sarah down and looked at her.

Sarah blushed wildly, she had no reason other than him saving her.

"Thank you Stephen… I would've been-" Stephen hushed her with a finger over her mouth, somehow, Sarah blushed even further. It was as if Stephen coaxed the shyness from her inner being.

He moved in just a bit closer after that, and Sarah had another overwhelming desire sweep over her. She moved in on him, and made contact with his lips, kissing him directly.

He didn't flinch, instead, he mimicked the action, and kissed back, pressing his easily changeable skin to hers. Euphoria swept over Sarah immediately, a piece to the puzzle that was her life. She didn't stop, she didn't want to. Her hands wrapped around his malleable body, and pulled him in as close as she could, wanting to almost be a part of him. It was then that she realized she couldn't breathe, and she gasped loudly, looking deeply into Stephen's eyes.

Then shot straight up in bed. Sweat from fear, exhilaration, and pleasure encased her furry body. Her clothing was damp with it, and she felt around her face for Stephen, whom she desperately wanted to kiss again. Her hands started wiping tears from her face, there only because she realized it was only a dream.

"Oh my gosh…" She moaned through her hands, "I love him…"

* * *

**No comment.**

**More coming soon...**


	24. ULv 2 point 0

**Oh boy... I-I have little to say about this chapter right now...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

For the next two days, a force impeded upon the flow of time, and everything seemed to go by incredibly slowly. Daisy and Brunis skipped school for the rest of the week. Brian, Sarah and Stephen both kept watch on the fuming Richard at school, who was proudly describing how he slept with Daisy, leaving out the fact that it was rape. Brian, Sarah and Stephen all reported this, but had no idea what it meant. And Sarah, with her realization far behind her, refused to sleep in the same bed as Stephen too, and shied away from him during times when they'd meet. She had the utmost fear of Stephen figuring out. _What if he doesn't like me as much? _Was her most common thought.

She would also frequently start gazing at him, only to be interrupted by something. And it was becoming more frequent.

_Ah… he's so cool…_ She cooed mentally, fully embracing her mother's feelings of love for another, but still too shy to act on it.

"Sarah!" Her teacher yelled, make her jump back into reality; which was, sadly, the whole class looking at her as she seemingly glanced out of the window above Stephen's head.

"Yeah Sarah, get your head out of the clouds and start answering the teacher's questions!" The class chanted in one voice.

Sarah's face flushed with color and embarrassment as she recollected herself.

Later that day as she was walking next to Stephen, she noted another strange feeling; that desire to kiss him again. In her dream, he was malleable, soft, and warm. She was so tempted to see if he was the same in real life. She didn't dare touch him though, she knew better. The first day back, she tried, but was nearly electrocuted by him; some freakish hormone thing, she was sure.

She had a partial agenda and plan for telling Stephen, but that wasn't yet, she was still too frightened, and she knew she needed more courage to do this.

So until then, she just walked at his side, too frightened to get any closer than that.

"Sarah? Are you ok? You've been acting weird these past few days…" Stephen noted aloud.

"Me? Strange? Why would you think that? I've been acting the same way as I always have. You're the crazy one." The words left her mouth faster than bullets could leave the barrel of a machine gun, only adding to Stephen's curiosity.

"I'm not crazy…" Stephen gave her a look, partially sad.

"Sorry Stephen, I spoke too fast. Sorry sorry sorry sorry…" Sarah kept her quick-speech up, too jittery to think.

It stayed like this for the whole trip back, which was a long one seeing as Sarah didn't give Brian or Stephen a ride anymore.

* * *

Damian smirked as he looked at his massive map. A big logo, designed after his charming face, so he thought, marked his location, and a small grey dot, bleeping on the screen, were both very close to one another.

"It is time! Prepare the probe!" A small little figure appeared, powered by a jetpack.

"Aye-aye sir!" The creature brought forth a small little ball from another room, and handed it to Damian.

"Very well done Bokkun, you're being a very faithful servant recently." **(A/N: Blame SonicX for that, I love Bokkun, he's awesome. He and I have a lot of similarities actually... we both are shortish, we both are zany, and we both love blowing things up!)**

"Thank you Dr. Egg- I mean Damian! Oops…" Bokkun trailed off in a quiet voice.

"Don't speak of that failure on MY ship. Now give me that, and our lost experiment will start working correctly…" The Doctor began to work on the small ball, and instantly, two blades appeared, and it began to morph into a little helicopter.

"Ooh! Cool!" Bokkun added enthusiastically.

Damian spoke to the ball clearly, "go to the experiment, and then rework his genetics a bit, use this program." The Doctor insert a small chip into the ball, and it whirred off into the distance.

"How long is that thing going to take? It isn't that fast…"

"Probably by dinner time… speaking of which, I'm hungry." Damian added thoughtfully, patting his round stomach.

"You're always hungry…"

"Shut it flyboy, and get me some meat."

"Yes sir…" Bokkun submitted.

* * *

The Rose family was mostly quiet as they ate dinner. Sarah constantly looked down, making sure to not look across the table at the boy she had finally realized she loved and cared for deeply. Sonic and Amy were silently trying to understand their daughter's sudden change in mood and personality both mentally thinking it may have had something to do with the menstrual cycle that she had started not more than a month ago. And then Stephen, the oddball, was eating his food like a normal person, bobbing his head to a melody only he could hear and understand.

Stephen had a piece of bread on his plate, slightly too big to eat in one bite, and, either to show off, to see that he could, or just because he was too lazy to pick of the fork a few inches away, his fingers became long, sinewy, and sharp. With them, he diced the bread up into about 20 pieces, each very thin and easy to chew.

"Wow, if I could do that, I wouldn't have to spend so much money on knife replacements…" Sonic smiled, looking at Stephen's handiwork.

"I know, I didn't try that one until just now… apparently, if you move a small pole fast enough, it can cut into things, like that… it was very strange though, that feeling…"

"Please Stephen, could you not do that at the table?" Amy asked, trying not to overdo the sweetness of her voice.

"Mom, he doesn't mean to. Cut him some slack." Sarah immediately replied, voice still as fast as she could run.

"It still seems… inappropriate to do that…" Amy answered.

Sarah said nothing. Stephen glanced between them, curiously wondering what feud they had.

To solve the problem, and end whatever fighting they had between them, Stephen left to go clean up his plates.

"I'm going for a small walk, um… I'll be back in a few minutes, don't worry." Stephen just left, not giving further instruction.

_Wait! No! Let me come too! Wait… if I say that… then mom and dad will know… _Sarah shuddered and continued to eat her food.

Amy and Sonic looked at their daughter with questioning eyes, but Sarah didn't make eye contact.

"Honey, you've been acting a little strange recently… is everything ok?"

"Why would anything be not ok, mom?" Sarah quickly responded, "Thanks for dinner, love you, bye!" In a flash, the light blue hedgehog was gone.

"Sarah- dang that girl is quick…" Amy muttered.

"Leave her be, I think she could use some alone time…"

"Hopefully alone means without Stephen…" Amy whispered under her breath.

Had Sonic heard, he would've made a comment.

* * *

Stephen sat up against a tree, looking into the skies. Love was, again, on his mind, a never ending puzzle still. He lacked something, a way to compare it. He knew it was a nice feeling, but how nice exactly? He had no idea.

"One day… I will…" He looked into the skies and sighed. "Fly with the birds, swim with the fish, run with the wind… be free… I am free…" He let his mind wander, something he didn't do frequently, "but only free to an extent. There are rules, there a guidelines, things to make sure I don't get hurt, or hurt others… But what if I wanted to get hurt? No… not necessarily that, but getting close to danger… like walking a tightrope, that would be fun… something…" He sighed. "Sarah doesn't like me anymore… she's completely afraid of me… she doesn't want me in the same bed as her, she doesn't like me to hold her hand… that kind of makes me sad… why doesn't she want to be my friend anymore?" Stephen sat down and hugged hid legs, eyes getting a bit wet.

A small ball appeared in the horizon, but Stephen didn't notice it, not yet.

The moment he picked his head up, he could already see the logo of Damian on it.

"NO!" Stephen began to run, jumping up the tree and hopping across the canopy.

The little helicopter ball followed him very swiftly and deftly. It was slowly gaining on him.

In a few moments, he was cornered in a cave. The probe zapped him with a bolt of blue energy, and he fell down, knocked unconscious. The probe then went about changing the colors of the beam focused on his head, tampering with his brain and thoughts.

About a minute later, the probe formed a screen on the cave wall, and Stephen woke up, dazed, confused, and disoriented.

"Unit ULv2.0, respond." The face of Damian Robotnik on the wall didn't faze the grey figure. Instead, he looked at the screen, and nodded. "Very good… now, ULv2.0, destroy Sonic the Hedgehog and the rest of his pathetic family!"

Stephen, or rather, what once was Stephen, got up and spoke to the screen. "Destroy… Sonic… the Hedgehog… Rose… Family…" His eyes, once a calm and inviting grey, were now a stormy tempest, filled with rage and hatred.

ULv2.0 ventured forth from the cave, and began running on all fours to complete his mission.

* * *

Sarah walked outside, not running, trying to look for Stephen, but not look like she was looking for Stephen; a difficult task, seeing there was only one reason she would be outside other than running, which she didn't feel like doing.

"I've got to tell him now… I can't hold it in any longer. I'm going to walk up to him, tell him I love him, and then hope for the best. If he doesn't like me… well… I hope we can still be friends…Oh jeez… how am I going to do this?" Sarah began to approach an imaginary Stephen shyly, "Stephen, there's something I've been meaning to tell you… No! That's not right… Hey Stephen, um… I love you. No, that's not right either! Grrr… why does this have to be so difficult?" She tapped the imaginary Stephen's shoulder and then kissed the air that should've been his face, "That seems to obvious… but I'd get to kiss him… ohhhhhhhhh! Why? I'll just have to think it up as it comes…"

As she practiced, she looked towards the forest. Atop a tree, a grey figure stood.

"Stephen!" She called to him excitedly, mentally starting to panic.

Stephen glared at her, too far away for her to notice. He jumped from his post and charged her.

Sarah interpreted this as Stephen running to her, but something was a bit off. He didn't seem to be slowing down, just speeding up.

"Stephen?" Sarah's mind raced. _He looks mad… did I upset him? Does he even like me at all? How will he react? Why is he running? Maybe he DOES like me… what if he doesn't? Shut up girl! Don't think!_

Stephen was within 100 feet of Sarah, and that's when she really noted his expression, anger and frustration.

"Stephen, what's wrong?" Stephen didn't stop, he just kept running until he rammed into Sarah full force. "OW!" Sarah yelped.

Stephen, with Sarah on the ground, muttered his orders once more, as if to refresh his memory, "Destroy… Rose… Family…" and then held a massive hand, each finger a razor shard claw, and swung at Sarah.

By some stroke of luck, Sarah ducked just enough and wiggled down just far enough that the hand only gave her a haircut.

"STEPHEN!" Sarah pushed him off as hard as she could, difficult as her hands sunk into the putty that was his skin.

The moment she was on two feet, she ran, headed for home. Stephen was close in pursuit, slowly being placed farther back at Sarah's incredible speed.

"MOM! DAD! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH STEPHEN!" Sarah fell on the floor, sobbing.

Amy rushed to see her daughter on the ground, the top parts of her quills sliced off and a bit of blood on her face. "WHAT HAPPENED?" Amy was terrified.

"Stephen just… went insane… and… and… he said 'destroy, Rose, family.' Mommy… I'm scared…"

Amy's eyes bulged.

"What happened?" Sonic rushed in.

He wasn't answered, their door was ripped off and an angry, claw bearing Stephen was standing in the door.

"Destroy… Rose… Family…" His eyes meant it too.

Lunging at Amy and Sarah, he was beaten aside by Sonic.

"Don't you touch them!" He roared, assuming a battle stance. Tails could be heard climbing up the chute from the basement.

Stephen hissed and then lunged at Sonic. Sonic quickly stepped aside, and Stephen fell on the ground, being kicked by Sonic again. Stephen hastily got up and lunged again, this time, calculating Sonic's movements and caught him at the end, having him pinned on the floor.

Stephen's grip was tremendous and Sonic felt his arms strain at their hinges as he struggled to break free.

Stephen, with a fierce head-butt, knocked Sonic unconscious. Before Stephen could kill him, Amy tackled Stephen off of her beloved husband. In seconds, Stephen was choking her with one hand wrapped around her neck four times.

Tails rushed in to take Stephen down, zapping him with an electrical shock, but the bolts, for the most part, bounced off of his skin. With one arm, he slapped the stun gun away, and with the other, still gripping Amy, he threw the pink hedgehog at Tails.

Sarah jumped on Stephen's back, in any futile attempts to stop him, and started pulling back screaming.

"STOP IT STEPHEN! STOP IT!!"

With his hands free, he threw Sarah in front of him, and held out his clawed hand again. A wicked, twisted smile came across his face. This was pleasing him. Sarah cringed and crawled backwards in utter terror.

"Code written, sending…" A familiar voice called as something jumped through the window.

A red beam hit Stephen's head and he fell to his knees. "No… mission kill… Rose family… not… save… ACK!" He groaned, everyone was still either too beaten too move, petrified, or thoughtful, as the new guest's state of mind was.

"Fine, new code written." Another, darker red beam hit Stephen's head, and he blinked, registering it.

"Capture Hedgehog! Bring back alive for further experimentation." Stephen looked at the helpless Sarah in front of him, and lunged.

Someone was quicker.

Quasar, who'd been standing in the window since she broke it, jumped between the two, and her skin began to change. She grew short spiky spines, turned a light bluish color, and pseudo-fur appeared around her, emerald eyes gleaming brighter than normal.

Stephen grabbed the Sarah look alike instead, have no idea that Sarah was still left behind.

Quasar went without a fight, and was run off out of the house towards the sea.

Stephen was gone, ULv2.0 had arrived.

* * *

**As I said... no comment... I'm such a sadist... when the occasion is right...**

**More coming soon...**


	25. Black vs Grey

**Sorry this took so long... I've had some... problems with my relationship recently. No, it isn't like the amazing love doctor that's writing this story can't keep a girl, quite the opposite. In fact, my life has been turned into it's own Romeo and Juliet spin-off. My girlfriend's father doesn't like us being together, and is, in my mind, impeding on our relationship because he doesn't like the thought of her having a boyfriend... either that, or he just doesn't like me. Either is fairly possible. Now granted, I'm being nice to him mentally, and trying my very hardest not to hate him, (one day, you never really know, he may be my father-in-law, and THEN I'd want to be on good terms with him...)**

**THat aside, I'm doing fine, except for the fact that I can barely even contact the woman I love and can no longer sleep without crying... (Ok, I've to to shut up now and post the damn story...)**

**Oh yeah, and Siranzan Prower, if you're listening, I think you'll like this chapter, lol.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Sarah had locked herself in her room, not even bothering to care for her injured parents in the living room. The boy she was just about to try to kiss nearly killed her and her parents. The wounds on her hands and head would heal, but her heart, that would take a lot more time. She grabbed a pillow and hugged it tightly, leaning on her side.

"Stephen… Stephen… Stephen…" She said it with each gasp.

Images ran through her mind; Stephen choking her mother, his head knocking the wind out of Sonic, and worst of all, that smile. Rivers of tears came from her eyes as she recalled that twisted smirk or enjoyment. _How could he enjoy it? How?_ Sarah sobbed even more into the pillow she used to sleep with him on.

"Sweetie…" The raspy voicee of her mother called through the door, "come out here, please?"

"STEPHEN!!" Sarah wailed she knew no other words at the moment.

A pang of regret filled Amy's heart. Though she was right she knew her daughter was petrified at it all. It would take time to forget the silver creature they once called friend.

"Come out Sarah… please?"

There was no reply. Inside the room, Sarah had fallen asleep to her nightmarish tears and horrible day.

Amy said nothing, and crawled back into the guest bedroom, where she was supposed to be treated by Daisy and Cosmo.

"What got into that boy?" Cosmo wondered aloud as she administered herbs on Amy's skin that would, supposedly, help her recover from her bruises and wounds.

"I knew he'd snap eventually… he, well, it was a big change from wherever he came from, so the massive change HAD to get to him eventually…"

"I guess… but attacking you guys? C'mon, that's a bit strange…"

"Yeah… I don't know… he was always very emotional…" Amy closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep.

Cosmo realized this and stopped talking to her patient, starting to tend to her husband, who, while not damaged greatly, was still in need of assistance, if not physical then mental.

"What would bring Stephen to do that? He was a nice kid… maybe he was provoked… but no… he said it, I heard him say it… 'kill, Rose, family.' What the heck? That doesn't even make sense… he was like some form of robot… Cosmo?"

"I'm here honey…" Cosmo sat by the couch where Tails was being healed.

"It may sound corny, but times like this are when I realize I love having you at my side…" With that, Tails leaned upwards and gave Cosmo a kiss, which was soon after returned. **(A/N: Ok, call me weird, but I never think I ever fully addressed this. I was writing, a little bit, before I watched SonicX, but once I heard about Tails and Cosmo, that was THE TRIGGER that caused me to write. I was reading a profile page about someone who said that same thing, and well, you really do have to feel sorry for how they ended up... I can't do much from the real world, but I can write for them, I guess...)**

* * *

Stephen, or rather, ULv2.0, ran as fast as he could to the preprogrammed destination lodged synthetically into his brain. Quasar, limp, pretending to react how Sarah probably would had she fainted, was slung over his shoulder, looking identical to Sarah.

Up ahead, in a single clearing in the woods, GUN was ready for him. They had received a call from Sonic that a powerful criminal had kidnapped someone and was headed towards the ocean, and they were ready, or so they thought.

Stephen didn't notice them at first, but the moment the gunfire began, one would've thought Stephen had known this ambush ages in advance. Immediately, he took a step back and held the Sarah look alike in front of him, the gunfire ceased, but a single bullet had pierced a nerve on Quasar, freezing her processes temporarily. Saying nothing, he took another step back, and glared everyone down. Before anyone could think of a way around him, his one free arm shot out into the crowd and grabbed a gun. Beat the man's chin with it, and started firing at the men and women opposing him.

The fifth of the people that fell provided a small gap, but, rather than stop with the adequate gap, ULv2.0 continued. With an arm wrapped around Quasar, he stretched his arm out a bit farther, and his fingers elongated. His free arm tossed weapons to his fingers, and he operated them accurately. His aim was dead on, and the blood of his victims stained the once vibrant and lush grass in the clearing.

The gunfire came at him, and his extremities, but he carefully calculated their speed and angle of projection quickly enough to just barely avoid them. His reactions were too paranormal for the human soldiers to compete against.

With about five humans and a single machine left, a transport vehicle, Stephen was taken by surprise.

"Chaos Spear!" Yellow bolts of energy hit all of his armed extremities, and he dropped them, flinching in pain. **(A/N: *Insert awesomeness music here*)**

Stephen glanced around to see the figure that ushered that energy, but saw no one. Then a punch in the back brought him back to reality.

"So, you ARE a fighter… and a good one too… but can you beat the Ultimate Lifeform?" Shadow the Hedgehog challenged from behind.

"I am Stephen, the second generation of the Ultimate Lifeform, my mission is to eradicate and or capture Sonic, Amy, and Sarah Rose, and eliminate all that oppose me. If you dare impede upon my mission, you too shall be eliminated." Stephen responded mechanically, elbowing the space that was once occupied by Shadow.

"You have much to learn. You're but a novice." Shadow taunted from a tree.

Stephen glared at him and quickly grabbed a pistol. Aiming it at Shadow, he fired, and the hedgehog appeared on the ground next to the tree and began to skate across the ground, circling his prey.

"You beat up my rival, I commend you, however, you took him by surprise. You don't have that now. Try, just try, you won't win." Shadow called as he dodged the onslaught of gunfire hitting the trees behind him.

"GRR!" Stephen growled as he changed his strategy and started firing further in front of Shadow, who only began to accelerate.

A moment later, a bullet hit Shadow, and he fell back.

_He's got a very keen eye. Damn! _Shadow's thoughts were angry and malicious.

Before Stephen could react, Shadow lunged at him, trying to grab the disguised Quasar from him. Stephen fell over backwards, and immediately shoved Shadow off. Shadow was distracted however. From the inside of what he _thought _was Sarah, a red gleam, brilliant in all ways, emanated. Stephen didn't notice it, but Shadow knew what it was; another Chaos Emerald.

_How did it get there? I've got to get this girl out of here…_ Shadow was knocked into a tree, and then Stephen made a run for it, seeing as he knew he couldn't beat Shadow.

Shadow would've smirked, but he rarely felt much emotion worthy enough to show on his face. Stephen was presenting a challenge. He thought he could outrun the true Ultimate Lifeform. _Oh no you don't little one… Oh no you don't. _And Shadow gave chase to the quickly fleeing Stephen.

As Stephen ran, he noticed, way up ahead, a small canyon, dug down leading to the ocean, in front of him. It was in his way, and it was too wide to jump for normal people. He fit into this category too, however, he had one advantage over Shadow. The Sarah lookalike in his arms was fairly heavy, and Stephen had little weight. As he ran, he used his stretchy arms to throw Quasar forward and backwards to gain momentum. By the time the canyon was under him, he had thrown Quasar over it, a distance he knew he could easily throw, and jumped, being propelled by Quasar's inertia and velocity.

He pulled himself in and landed the jump perfectly, Quasar landed harshly on the ground, but, he still wanted the Rose family dead, so her welfare was not his concern.

Shadow, shortly following, was fast enough to make the jump in a single bound, which would've shocked Stephen had he not been rushing forwards.

"Give me that girl!" Shadow clearly called through the woods as he pursued the grey criminal.

Stephen decided to try another tactic on Shadow this time, for the first time on Shadow, he had the element of surprise.

Shadow ran as fast as he could. Somehow, he lost track of Stephen, and this worried him. However, a heavy whack on the head wasn't how he wanted to find him. Stephen had thrown Quasar right in front of him, and with his incredible speed, it was like getting hit by a train. Of course, Shadow, invincible as he was, only fell back with a bit of blood coming from his skull, but he was dizzier than he'd been in a long time.

An angry grimace crept onto his face as he stood up. Stephen slugged him in the face as hard as he could. Shadow couldn't dodge, he saw three fists coming at him at once. The moment Shadow's back hit the ground, Stephen ran again, holding Quasar wrapped in his legs, still disoriented from the bullet in her neck, and jumping through the canopy, where Shadow couldn't easily follow.

"Ugh…" Shadow stood up, refusing to be beaten, and then started running after where he thought Stephen was.

* * *

Sarah was awake again, her nightmares too terrible to sleep, and she was terribly hungry.

"Ohh…" She moaned loudly, alerting her mother, still in the kitchen, of her hunger.

"Sarah, come get some food, ok?"

"I'm… not hungry mom." Sarah groaned, knowing she couldn't stomach any food don if she tried.

"Then… maybe you do something distracting? Like, play a game, or talk with Brian, or help Daisy and Brunis with their wedding, I'm sure they'd love that." Amy coaxed.

"Fine…" Sarah grumbled as she strode to the carpet to go into the basement.

"Anything to get your mind off of that little spaz attack from Stephen…" Amy added with Sarah too far out of hearing range.

* * *

Stephen had made it to the beach by the time Shadow caught up with him, and at that point, it was too late for him.

"Get back here!" Shadow demanded, kicking up a sandstorm as he skated over to Stephen.

Stephen, with the disguised Quasar in his hands, dove into the waves, and was gone.

"What the-!" _Where did he go?_ Shadow searched the waves as he hovered over them, only seeing a small serpentine creature dashing under the water faster than he himself could move on land. _Damn, I lost him? No way…_

Shadow returned to base, his head hung low with the aura of a draw.

Stephen on the other hand was almost gleeful; he escaped Shadow, and was headed to his master's base.

* * *

Brunis and Daisy looked at their altar, and smiled at each other brightly.

"This is really going to happen, isn't it?" Daisy squealed with excitement, "I'm really going to marry this silver hunk besides me?"

"Well, I'm not sure hunk is the right word…"

"YAY!" Daisy jumped up and hugged his arm, and he of course, didn't flinch.

"But you have to get a dress…"

"Would you take me shopping?"

"Am I really allowed to come to pick out your wedding dress?" Brunis raised an eyebrow, vaguely remembering traditions.

"OH! You're right! Dang… Tails! Dad! Can we go as a family to get a wedding dress for me?"

"Um… yeah, sure, but… I think it would be best to sleep on it first… I mean, we're all very tired…" Tails sighed, remembering Stephen's outrage.

"Ok…" Daisy mumbled with a disheartened tone. Brunis, to brighten her mood, smooched her cheek, and then made her demand more.

Sarah walked in at the wrong moment obviously, just when they were kissing. Her heart suck, remembering the dream image she had, and how it was brutally shattered and replaced by a more frightening one.

"My mom told me to come down here to help…" Sarah's voice squeaked frequently, and her eyes were bloodshot from rubbing her eyes and crying.

"Oh dear, she looks terrible…" Cosmo muttered as she peeked her head out of her bedroom, dressed for sleep.

"There isn't much to do… Sarah, go get some sleep, ok? You look horrible."

Sarah's eyes began to water and her mouth started trembling.

"I'm fine." She managed to stutter out as she tried to leave hastily, only stumbling on the floor.

Brunis had her back on two feet in a moment.

"You ok?"

"I-… I have to go…" Sarah tugged his hand and made him drop her. This time she made it back up the chute without stumbling, but not crying. It was too easy to hear.

"I feel so bad for her… do you think that she and Stephen were-?"

"I don't know Daisy… I focus on you for the most part…" Brunis sighed hugging his fiancée.

* * *

Sarah sat in her room holding her knees, collapsed on her bed again. Stephen occupied her mind, all of it.

"Forget about him…" She breathed, trying her hardest to erase these images of everything he did.

It was so obvious, now, that she had been in love with him. The weird feeling she got when they touched, how she would blush when he did something chivalrous, how she felt giving him a kiss on the forehead was an appropriate reward for such acts, even how she held his hand in the halls, all of the signs were too obvious.

"Think about your other friends… distract yourself…" Then it hit her; Stephen took up all of her time. She never bothered to make any friends here. Stephen had been the perfect friend for her, and distracted her from all other people around her. There was no one else.

This was too much for her to take. She was hitting a certain phase in her young, female life that always tended to make her go crazy, and then the love of her life, as far as she knew, turned out to be a killing machine meant to kill her, and that her best friend, also the dream boy, was gone, with no other friends, and to make it worse that she'd never told him, it was far too much to take.

Her sadness of Stephen leaving turn into fear of losing him forever and never seeing him again, and then to anger for anyone that made this possible, and then that all turned into sheer determination. She was going to see him again. There was nothing left. Sure, she could make another friend, but no one seemed able to take Stephen's place, nor anyone to take Stephen's place as her lover. Her decision meant getting hurt, probably very badly, but to see this boy again, she was sure she'd do anything to get him back.

If that meant death, then just maybe she'd do it.

* * *

**So now we've got a partially suicidal hedgehog... (trust me, I know how this feels... if I knew I couldn't ever see Megan again, and she was gone, possibly forever, I would be very close to suicidal... the first real cut is the deepest, and trust me, that is a true fact.)**


	26. Death

**Ok, I'm updating on a weekday! OMG! That doesn't happen often anymore... lol... Well, the problems with my girlfriend, I've found, won't be over until the 16th... assuming I live that long, I ought to also have this story done CLOSE to then... no promises, of course, but still... I'm getting clsoe to the climax, can't you tell? Lol, oh yeah, and a few new characters may be coming in next chapter... not that you haven't seen them before, but still...**

**Nonetheless, someone gave me a few ideas that weren't originally in my plan for this story... I don't remember who, but it made me think, and OOH I feel good about it all right now...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Stephen stood at attention, as if he was in the middle of boot camp. Also similar to boot camp, an angry fat man was yelling at him.

"ULv2.0! How could you fail me?! I told you to KILL the hedgehogs! NOT CAPTURE THEM!"

"Orders are: capture or destroy Sonic, Amy and Sarah Rose."

"NO THEY WEREN'T!" Damian roared vigorously.

"Yes they were." Stephen responded calmly, staring blankly into space.

"Bokkun! Take ULv2.0 to his cell! I will deal with his faulty mind later…" The doctor growled.

"Yes sir!" The little purple figure hovered off with Stephen following him unquestioningly through the base under the ocean.

"As for you… Sarah…" Damian sneered at the look alike chained to his table, unmoving.

"Stop… calling… me… that…" Quasar growled, unable to change back.

"Wh-what? That's not Sarah's voice."

"Bullet… in… neck… needs… out…" Quasar stuttered.

"What are you?"

Quasar didn't respond, but a few faint clicks could be heard from inside her neck, like the shifting of plates and gears. Damian walked over to her head, and had her flipped over quickly. Then, he watched as a small hole on the back of Quasar's fleshy neck grew in size with the rate of the clicking.

"Hmm… interesting…" Damian noticed the small little bullet, perfectly lodged between two strange green strings, pushing them apart. Reaching in, he was immediately zapped, and launched backwards about three feet with a bolt of lightning.

"IIIIYAA!" Quasar screeched, the bolt was a painful hit on her system.

"You little…" Damian growled, getting a rubber glove to try again.

This time, the little bullet fell out of the string perfectly. Then, slowly, the ripped wire began to mend itself. All over Quasar's body, her disguise of Sarah vanished.

"YOU'RE NOT SARAH!"

"I've been… trying to tell… you that…" Quasar's voice was slow and sluggish, like she was heavily drunk. A faint glow from her chest distracted Damian's anger.

"What's that?" Damian flipped her over again, and poked at her chest, where a gleaming red gem was housed. A moment later, the claws that held it in place in her stomach tightened over it.

"My pretty… rock." Quasar smiled, thinking she was in control of everything.

"A CHAOS EMERALD!" Damian exclaimed as he analyzed the gem from afar. His hands struck at her claws, ripping them away from the gem and for every two claws he ripped off of the eight, Quasar could replace only one, she was losing her gem.

A hand slowly rose from the stretcher and moved towards Damian. She was trying to hit him, but was too out of it to successfully get any power or speed into it.

"Ungghhh…" Quasar groaned, the wire not yet mended.

Damian held above her sluggish body the gem, laughing slightly.

"I should commend him! ULv2.0 retrieved a Chaos Emerald! Muhohohohoho!" The mad doctor cheerily spoke.

Placing the gem in his main reactor, the ship began to rumble, with a bit more power, the ship would be able to travel much faster. He gave orders to surface and the ship began to rise out of the cavern it was secluded in.

Then he turned his attention back to Quasar, who was becoming more alert.

"What are you?"

"My name is Quasar." She spoke quickly, trying to act more awake than she was.

"Hmm… wh-what's that glow?" Another glow, deeper in her chest, shone through to his glasses, gleaming a rich purple.

"My heart." Now Quasar was afraid; if the doctor knew how, he could kill her if he removed that crystal.

"What does it do?"

She said nothing, petrified of losing her only battery. Her father hadn't yet given her a second battery, not seeing that a catastrophe could happen to her.

"Hmm… I see that it is releasing a lot of energy. May I see?"

Quasar's internal hooks clamped tightly onto the heart in her chest and she glared at him.

"Give me that gem… I need to test it!" He pulled out a few mechanical arms from the ceiling and began to probe at her chest. **(A/N: Oh dear...)**

The moment Quasar broke one of her bonds to swat them away, dozens more appeared, nailing her to the ground, and ripping at her chest. The plates that guarded the one possession she had were ripped off and scattered about the ground in chunks. Her legs shot up and she tried to throw the claws off, knocking a few down, but then even more were summoned, pinning her down further.

_So this is what those girls feel like that I hear get raped all of the time? Scary… fear… I'm not used to it… This guy, he's going to rip out my heart… what the hell am I going to do?! I-I can't die… I wonder if I'll go to heaven like dad says doesn't exist? No… I have no soul… so this is what it's like to die…_

The claws ripped further into her chest, which kept trying to collapse onto itself to protect the one gem that made everything in Quasar function. A single claw reached it, and touched the purple crystal of Arcanium, and the entire ship lurched and surged with energy. That same claw fell off of its hinges a second later.

Damian placed a rubber sheath on one of them, and controlled that one to take the gem out. Grasping firmly on the heart of Quasar, it waited for further instructions while other claws ripped off the wires hooked up to that gem.

_So this is what it is like to die… so nice that I only had a few weeks to live it… if only I could do it all over again… I wish I had that… a second-!_

The sheathed arm pulled upwards and Quasar shrieked her last sound.

"KAAAAII-!" Her mouth froze instantly, and the green coloring in her eyes slowly faded back to a dull grey. The lines of energy, once covering and coloring her body with tints of green, were all gone, changed into a dark, dim grey color, just like the metal the surrounded her.

Damian looked at that gem, and the dead robot that was killed in the process of obtaining it, and instantly began to work on an energy port so that it could power the switch.

"This is much stronger than a Chaos emerald… or at least, when it is charged… interesting..." Damian went wild with ideas to use the Arcanium including ways to synthesize it.

Quasar's dead body loomed in the background, forgotten already; after all, she was just a robot, and didn't matter anyways.

* * *

Richard was pissed to say the least. Daisy was gone. Brunis had kidnapped her from his own home. He had been beaten up. And to make it all official, Daisy was getting married this weekend. The cops were after Brunis, that was good, and he was skipping school. But, Daisy was supposed to be a good girl, and come to school, even if Brunis wouldn't out of fear for his freedom. He needed to do something to break them up, once and for all.

He sat on the docks near his mansion, facing the ocean that he lived on the shore of. Contemplating every move, nothing came to mind.

"I need to talk to that fat idiot doctor. He'll figure something out…" Richard stood up to go back inside when a massive splash disrupted his thoughts.

A wave swept him off of his feet and he landed in the sand a few feet away from the dock. Standing up, he noticed a massive ship, less than a mile away from shore. Even from here, the huge round logo of Damian was strikingly obvious.

"Perfect!" Richard ran off and hopped onto one of the fifty jet skis that his family owned at that house. He'd be there in a minute.

* * *

Sarah's sleep was fraught with more nightmares, all of which horrifying. A week ago, she dreamt up a man, not a boy, a man, big, strong, handsome yet cute, muscular, and totally in love with her. Now, that same man had become a monster. Stronger, eviler, crueler and vile, this creature thrashed her, yelling kill as he did it. And in the animate world, Sarah shook violently, being thrashed.

A small shift, and the dream changed.

Sarah was now walking towards Stephen, the grey beast now chained to a wall. She still loved him, and she wanted to be with him, no matter what that meant. Stephen glared at her, and ripped and tore at his bindings.

Sarah absently walked closer, knowing what it meant, and hoping that he would return to normal from her act of kindness. She grabbed the key, and odd looking thing, shaped like a face in some ways, pure silver, and inserted it into the main lock on Stephen.

The moment she did, he jumped from his wall and screamed.

"DIE!"

With an arm turning into a razor sharp whip, he sliced off her arm that was holding the key, so close and in range. She wailed in utter torture, and Stephen pinned her against the wall. She should've, had it been the normal Stephen that she learned to love, been in euphoria, however, she was truly frightened; horrified even.

Stephen's head then lunged at her, and her eyes closed as she felt her guts be ripped to shreds before bleeding to death.

She woke up immediately, and was sweating and panting like she'd just won a race against her father. The tears somehow returned to her, and she sobbed again. She now knew what she was going to do that morning; she was going to find Stephen, whether it killed her or not. She'd search everywhere, from the forest to the ocean to the desert to the city; no place would be unchecked. And when she found him, if it meant her last words, she'd tell him she loved him. That much was a given.

And just maybe, she'd get to taste his lips before anything bad happened to her.

* * *

Richard was scaling the side of the ship now floating in the water. The ship was trying to lift off, but lacked the energy, or so it felt. The moment he got to the top of the juggernaut, he struggled to open the hatch.

A second after opening the door and dropping in, the walls turned red, and a voice began to wail over the speakers, "Intruder Alert!"

Richard growled, and walked on as if it wasn't talking to him. However, he couldn't keep walking forwards when the drones got him.

"Let me go, you mechanical imbeciles!" Richard complained as he was manhandled off to the jail.

Damian walked through his halls to the jail, annoyed that some intruder was caught. Bokkun wouldn't shut up about it, and that did nothing but irritate him.

Much to his surprise, Richard the Cat, his best paying client, stood in the cell, tapping his foot.

"I was wondering why it took you so long! Jeez! Get me out of here! I NEED YOUR HELP!" Richard whined like wuss he was.

"Shut up! I don't need another thing hovering over my shoulder and complaining! Now what do you need?"

"Daisy's marrying Brunis, I don't know where they are, and I want to kidnap her."

"Again?"

"Again."

"If Daisy IS Tails daughter, then I can use her as ransom, and then not give her back… hmm…" Damian mumbled partially to himself, "I agree, we should go off and find them, but in the mean time, I've got an old vendetta to settle between Sonic and I, and I must find his daughter…" Damian unlocked Richard's cell and the two hopped on a platform and were whirred off to the laboratory, where Damian could rig the Arcanium to finally launch his ship, which could easily hover on the power of the Chaos Emeralds but not launch off at such a low altitude.

"When can we get to her?" Richard questioned, glancing at Stephen, locked up against a wall with a probe waiting to tamper with his mind.

"When I build this conductor that will not blow up when exposed to this gem…" Damian started working on a few pieces of metal, linking them together in strange ways.

"Whatever…" Richard mumbled, looking at Stephen again. He got up, and walked towards the bound creature.

There was something odd with him, other than being in the doctor's possession. Stephen had a small lock of golden on his silver body. It wasn't hair though, it was fur; fox fur.

"Doctor! Tails' fur! It's on him!"

"What?!"" The metal dropped, and Damian analyzed the piece of fur on Stephen's shoulder, all possible extremities latched tightly in place, and pulled it off.

Dropping it into a machine, DNA readings came out in a few seconds. It was in fact Miles 'Tails' Prower.

"And now… huh… if this robot girl faked being Sarah, she must have been protecting something, and if she was protecting something by being Sarah that must have meant that Sarah was in the vicinity, and if she was in the vicinity, then if we read ULv2.0's mind, then we can find out where they are all hiding, and then also capture them quickly. Imagine it, all of them in our grasp. Sonic's family, AND the Prower family! Muhohohohoho!"

"So let's go!" Richard urged eagerly.

"Not so fast…" Damian stopped his movement, "we need to get this glorious ship into the air."

"Fine…" Richard sat back down in the chair, reveling in the memories of his time with Daisy.

* * *

**Yes, Quasar's death was a necessary sacrifice for the continuation of this story...**

**More coming soon...**


	27. Run Away

**UPDATE! Yay! And to Dogbert, who didn't leave a signature for me to respond to... This story DOES have a plot, and it isn't really dry, it isn't just of the type that you're looking for, I mainly do drama, love, maybe rescue, not so much action, doom and gloom. I didn't mean that harshly, I just... I don't know, it kind of agitated me that you all felt like I was getting repetitve...**

**Now, ok, I'll tell you all a big secret, I cannot kill a character, yet. I won't say more for a bit...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Far away, a figure looked up to the sky. His green eyes pierced the clouds, searching for something no one but he could see.

"Oh crap… honey…" His voice nearly cracked as he cut off his speech. A small hand touched his face, the girl who was on top of him, his girlfriend.

"XT, what's wrong?" Julie felt the vibrations inside him change slightly. **(A/N: See what I mean? I'm sorry, but I swear, I will make this different than before... kind of... and definitely, in future stories, I will learn to kill off characters... but for now, I have some big plans made for XT and his family...)**

"It's Quasar… she's…" The robot absentmindedly responded.

"Quasar?" The girl's short hair covered much of her expression; she was worried about her claims on the magnificent machine beneath her.

"I never told you about my daughter, Julie?"

"Daughter?" She squeaked.

"Don't worry, I built her, it is more of a joke than anything. She's a teenager by nature, heh heh." XT's chest moved up and down slightly, all to simulate breathing for his partner.

"What happened to her?"

"She's… she's not… sending her frequencies anymore…" XT's mind was elsewhere, searching the various signals throughout all of existence, a difficult task.

"What does that mean exactly?"

"Well… if a human is in the ocean, right? And they are in a submarine, and going into a certain area, and suddenly, all of the talking they were doing with their command center went dead, what could happen?"

"They may have something blocking them… or their ship could've sunk…"

"That's what I'm worried about…" XT looked into the space above his official home; a slightly forested section of New York, a good distance away from Jamestown. "I've got to go find her… figure out what's wrong…" XT groaned, his hands tracing over Julie's body lightly.

"I don't want you to feel like you have to spend time with me…" Julie started pulling away from him, "but if you want, you could take me with you…"

"No." XT's response was automatic, "you'll get hurt, I don't want to test realm jumping with you inside me, that isn't safe."

"Aw… please?"

"No Julie. I almost lost you twice; I won't let it happen again." XT's decision was as adamant as the metal that made him.

"Fine…" The brown haired girl caved, and stood up, walking off of her roof, her figure reflecting the moons rays onto XT.

The moment she strode inside, XT dropped down to the first level, and surprised her with a huge hug.

"I love you." His arms latched around her sides and his cheek brushed lightly against hers, his skin smoother than silk due to tampering for his beloved.

"I know… and that's why I can't come…" Julie hoped a bit of guilt would make him let her.

"Exactly!" XT, with a light kiss on her lips, jumped backwards, and rocketed into the space above their house, bursting into light and vanishing. Julie sighed, and went back to reading her books, many of them written by XT himself.

* * *

The morning came as silently as it had fallen. Sarah's first reaction to the light was to get up, and go for a little run, and she didn't plan on coming back without Stephen carrying her, or in her arms.

She ate a hasty breakfast before her injured parents could make it for her, or even wake up for that matter, and ran off. With Sarah gone, the house went quiet for another hour and a half, and then started to buzz with life.

* * *

Daisy and Brunis, both to be married on this very day, had slept away from each other, as tradition stated. Daisy slept in a guest room with her mom, and Tails showed Brunis to another room in the Workshop to sleep. Brunis, when he it was wished upon him, could sleep for hours without being able to be budged, and so, he was out like a rock for good few more hours.

"Unghh…" Daisy moaned as something tried to hug her. "Brunis…" She smiled, hugging back and leaning in for a kiss.

Cosmo then opened her eyes.

"Oh my gosh!" Daisy's shock at her mother's squeak through her off the bed.

"Ow! Did that seriously just happen? Where'd Brunis go?"

"I was saying the same thing for Tails… dang… that was close…" Cosmo blinked a bit, trying to wake up. "Come to think of it, why did we even sleep in the same bedroom?"

"You're asking me? You just wanted to keep me company… I think…" Daisy groaned, getting off of the ground.

"You ok?"

"I won't be normal for a while, that's for sure, and the thought that I'm getting married today kind of DOES make me feel a lot better."

"That's good." Cosmo agreed, getting up and opening the door, letting in the bright solar mirrors brighten the room. The warm and vibrant waves of reflected light made both of them very perky and filled with energy.

"So, are we getting the dress today?" Daisy asked like a little girl waiting for Santa Claus to give her a gift.

"Duh, and yeah, Tails has to come; he holds a majority of the money in this family… But, for now, you stay here, and I'll get him so we can all go get a good dress for you, ok?" Daisy beamed and shut the door as her mother left, getting changed before headed out on her wedding day.

"Tails honey, get up! We have to shop for a wedding dress!" Cosmo sat on her husband's bed, gently rubbing his shoulder.

"Say what again?" Tails eyes fluttered open slowly, taking in the image of Cosmo's face.

"We've got to get Daisy a wedding dress. Our daughter's getting married." Cosmo explained slowly and very deliberately as she looked into Tails' eyes.

"Oh! My daughter's getting married!" Tails snapped to attention, and shook off what little sleepiness he had. Grabbing his wife by the hand, he joyfully burst from the room and bolted to his daughter's room.

Daisy looked up, only partially read to go, holding her shirt to her chest to hide her undergarments.

"DAD!" She roared.

Tails' gleeful expression turned to horror and embarrassment as he hastily shut the door. "Oops… my bad…" He waited a few seconds more, and then knocked.

"I'm ready this time…" Daisy's tone was forgivingly kind.

"Sorry… now come on! Let's go!" Tails took Daisy's hand in his other free on, and propelled them, literally, to their aircraft, the Green Storm.

Tails helped his family, Brian and Brunis not included, into the cockpit, and started the ignition. "Thanks dad, for taking us…" Daisy kissed his dad's cheek, very grateful indeed.

Tails only smiled, and revved the engine up as far as it would go. "I'm just so happy for you Daisy… you have no idea…"

Cosmo and Daisy, both in the back, were too frightened by the ridiculous burst of speed to talk for a majority of the ride.

* * *

The sound of the engine made Brunis wake up instantaneously, and he was terribly frightened.

"Holy crap!" His eyes propped open with a rush of adrenaline, he looked around for Daisy. "Oh yeah… she's gone… I'll see- no! I'm going to- to marry her!" Brunis raised his hands to his head, and started trying to take that knowledge in, let it settle. It wasn't working.

His thoughts of being legally bound with his lover were interrupted by a loud rumble, emanating from his stomach. "Oh dear…" He grumbled, not knowing how to operate the fully automated kitchen that Tails used to cook them all breakfast in the morning. Without the proper knowledge, he could only go upstairs and eat with the neighbors.

* * *

Sonic and Amy woke up with the roar of the engine. Both of them tired and groggy, they used each other for support as they got out of the bed. Amy, the moment she was conscious enough to do so, strode out of the room and started with her amazing cooking.

Sonic, on the other hand, moved at a slug's speed out of the room, not feeling the normal, fast-paced morning, kids and a family wore him out like no other. He made his way to the couch, and fell asleep again.

Amy, methodically and knowingly, walked past the couch, her eyes still closed as this was a part of the morning routine, and pulled a quill out of Sonic's head, which woke him up almost as fast as the promise of chilidogs.

"Alright already! I'll get up!" Sonic groaned, opening his eyes widely, and began to stretch out for a potentially long day of standing.

Sonic's loud groan woke Amy up, a real team effort. "Ok, now Sarah…" Amy blinked away what little sleepiness she had left.

Amy tapped open Sarah's door, and called her name. "Sarah, time to get up." She wasn't quite yet awake enough to see that Sarah was gone.

Approaching the bed, and shaking the covers off, she found her daughter was missing. "Sarah? This isn't funny you little munchkin, come back here and get your breakfast." Amy commanded gently yet sternly as she shuffled through what few places Sarah would normally hide. "Sarah? Sarah! Sarah where are you? Please, honey, answer me?"

"Amy?" Sonic questioned the ruckus from the living room.

"Sonic! Where'd Sarah go?"

"She's hiding, isn't she? Don't worry, I'll have her found in no time." Sonic began to probe the house as Amy finished making breakfast for the family.

Amy noticed one tiny piece of evidence proving their fears correct, a few crumbs, and dirty dishes already in the sink.

"I NEVER leave ANYTHING in the kitchen when I'm done… and Sarah was out like a rock last night… she didn't get a snack late at night… she's…"

"She's not here! Where did she go?"

"She left breakfast in the sink…" Amy began to worry again.

"Amy? Are you-?" Amy passed out into Sonic's arms, and for whatever reason, wasn't getting up.

"Crap… Tails! Cosmo! Help!" Sonic's plea was hopeless, he heard the plane take off.

* * *

"Help!" Brunis was on the job again. Help seemed to be his middle name.

Rushing up to the Rose family's home, he was shocked to see Amy passed out. "What happened?" Brunis asked, hoisting Amy onto the couch with ease.

"Amy, she just passed out… Sarah's gone."

"Gone? Crap, that isn't good, she's our ring bearer… well, do you have any idea where she is?"

"Well, judging on the snack she had, she woke up earlier this morning… she could be halfway to the Mountains if she ran fast enough."

"I'll be right back. Amy will be fine, she just fainted… right?"

"I think so…" Replied the blue hedgehog, looking down at his wife. When he looked up, Brunis was gone.

* * *

Julie was bored now. XT usually was most of her time, and he was loads of fun for her. And now, he was gone, looking for his daughter, which did sound like tons of fun to her, and she had nothing to do.

"Why did I let him go? Ugh… I'm going to find him…" Julie grumbled, still as she was with XT, which was barely, if at all clothed. She hopped off of her bed and walked over to her computer, which, due to XT's tampering, was about the size of the oldest computer known to man, but as powerful as a space station from a sci-fi show. She still had rarely used it, partially out of fear that it would do something to her, but this was a special occasion.

Pulling up one of the smaller monitors, she accessed a file that she had created herself. She wasn't very great at computers, but, by using XT's books, and what little knowledge she did have at computers, she managed to find a way to send a message into the fabled space between space that XT could travel into.

Smiling as she amended it not to send to XT, but to a good friend of hers, she clicked the send button, and wandered into another segment of her home where her clothing was, XT always had her home jumbled into a strange mess, but she didn't mind.

By the time she made it to the middle of the living room den, a small depression in the center of her home, a flash of light blinded her and a rumbled sent her to the ground.

Flicking the hair from her slightly fair face, she looked up at the door, starting to open.

"How's it hanging girlfriend?" The cute, high-pitched voice of one of her best non-human friends called.

The smoke and light faded from the door, and two blue lights shone in, staring directly at Julie's naked figure.

"Oops! Did I interrupt something? I mean, normally that is why you fleshies don't wear clothes right, and I KNOW XT does that with you… he's obsessed, even though it really defeats the purpose if he can't really mate with you-" The pink robot began blabbing again.

"NO!" Julie blurted, thoroughly embarrassed, "XT and I were on the roof about… two hours ago… You don't have anything you're doing that I'm interrupting, do you?"

"Nope! AD-915 at your service!" The pink robot's grin surpassed XT's normal one; messing with boys was a fun pastime!

* * *

**Ok, now, again, I am sorry for the similarities to my other stories, and all of my readers are starting to catch onto my flaws... such as unable to kill... (never was good by me... I write because I feel sad for things that got killed... like Cosmo,) but, well, I don't know... In my next few stories, I will shake things up, and I will try to do some of that in this story, but for the most part, it is set in stone... (And, we're so close to the Climax, [which will come VERY fast once we all hit it, due to me writing half of it already,] that I am getting frustrated and feel that I HAVE to write to get there. This part is so boring, and the climax is SO awesome, [to me, at least,] that it is a bit difficult to write, and probably to read too, for that, I am sorry. But, I guarantee, once the Climax hits, I will throw if a few loops for y'all, and hopefully, you won't see ALL of them coming.)**

**Until then, well...**

**More coming soon...**


	28. Liftoff

**Three swim meets in one week, I am pooped, especially since (not to brag) I practically won the second one for my team by beating out another kid in my key event, the 100 yard breastroke.**

**But, ah, never mind all of that, let's get back to the story!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"So, what is it you need me to do?" Anna plopped a seat on the couch, looking at her friend with happy eyes.

Two more figures hobbled into the room, both looking like they just got off of a boat. The dark blue and bright silver one, tattooed with 'JB-284' on its arm, turned away.

"My apologies Julie, I didn't know you were indecent…" His head down, and back turned, JB-284 silently made more apologies.

"Oh I wish I were a human, Julie I've never seen you like THIS before! That's just kind of sexy…" The green one smirked as he said it. Julie shifted and hid herself as the green one finished. "Now, now, how am I different than XT? And how am I different than a computer? It was a generalization, if I were a human, I'd want to mate with you now."

"LANCE! Can't you see you're bothering her?" The blue one and Anna said in unison, Anna launching a pillow at his face, bursting it into oblivion.

"Sorry, that's what male humans do, right?"

"Pl-please Lance, don't look at me like that, ok? What would XT think?"

"Xavier's a wimp!"

"LANCE!" Anna launched another cushion, pushing in back a bit. Then Lance, being the hothead he was, lunged at Anna, and the blue one tried to stop him, and another family tussle began.

In the small amount of feuding time, Julie snuck off and got a dress and undergarments on as quickly as she could. With pink underwear and a baby blue dress, barely attractive or seductive, she strode into the room to see Anna tugging Lnce off the blue one.

"Guys? I'm back." All three of them looked at her blankly, as if trying to recall their positions.

"Hi Julie! Nice to meet you here!"

"You're in my house…" Anna began to look around, as did the two boys.

"Golly! Look at that! So, wait… why am I here?"

"I need your help Anna…" Julie pleaded.

"With?"

"Messing with my boyfriend."

"Ah! Count me in! What do you need of me?" Anna's panels flashed with the promise of adventure.

"Can you take me to him? Wherever he is?" Julie's eyes begged more than her tone or hands.

"Of course! Hop in sister!" Anna's chest opened up, and a cast was formed, ready to intake Julie.

Julie stepped inside, and Anna locked herself around her, every curve fitting perfectly.

"I like it in here… it is always a bit…"

"More feminine?"

"Yeah, than XT… he is all angular, you're curvier."

"Thank you! Now, you know what to do by now?" This had all become routine the last couple of times Julie needed help.

"Yep, thanks Anna."

"Anything to go against XT is in favor of me! Except causing misery…" Anna grumbled as Julie walked their co-op body outdoors, the blue and silver figure at Julie's side trying to hold her hand.

_I wonder if Anna will ever get it… _Julie smiled, thinking as she looked at the blue one's expression and timid actions. Julie, in Anna's body, jumped the moment she walked outside, and the blue one jumped with her, Lance following shortly behind.

"Julie! You jumped too soon! You can't easily take a fall of that magnitude! James help?" The blue one, now known as James, grabbed Julie's waist and tapped a small button on his side.

Gently, the two were pushed by a miniature jetpack onto a bronze ship floating above Julie's house. "It has been a long time since I last set foot aboard the _Resonance_, has anything changed?" Julie questioned, taking a seat next to two other figures, one a slight image of XT, and the other, a smaller, cuter robot.

"Julie?" The short one chirped.

"Hello Lily, how are you?" Julie asked in a motherly tone.

"HAPPY! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! JULIE'S HERE! Guess what Lance? JULIE'S HERE!" Lily's eye twitched with excitement at the last into the small, SU-V sized spacecraft.

"Yes, cutie, I know that." Lance innocently replied.

"Can we please get this show on the road? I want to fly, like now." A gruff voice growled over the speakers.

"Gannon's in a lovely mood I see." Anna's eyes, mimicking Julie's blinked.

"Yeah, nothing too out of the ordinary." James added.

"Qaeto! Zunei eta!" The semblance of XT hummed.

"Xenophon! Watch your tongue there! We've a human girl in our presence…" Lance commanded. The neuter-gendered robot responded by sticking a metal red object out of his mouth, letting it flap up and down, and made a distinct fart like noise with his mouth, grinning wickedly.

Julie never ceased to be amused that this was XT's family. **(A/N: YAY! THEA's back!)**

"Time to go. Safety harnesses will be activated." Gannon's voice spoke softly, for him, to his passengers and a set of metal brackets bound them all to the walls of the craft.

"Anyone want to listen to some music?" Lance offered sincerely.

"No." Everyone responded.

"Cool!" The green antagonize responded in addition to turning on his personal heavy metal rock collection. By the time the ship began to move, everyone was groaning.

The _Resonance_ darted upwards like a fish through the water, and began accelerating forwards. The moment a certain speed was reached, Gannon spun the ship into a roll, and the ship dematerialized into a burst of white light. This was the last thing Julie saw before she felt her own body battered and beaten and broken by the distortion of space and time around her.

* * *

Sarah had made her way into the city. She'd been searching everywhere, always measuring every square inch for him. Now in town, she'd ask random people about Stephen.

"Have you seen a hedgehog about as tall as me? Maybe taller? Kind of cute? Anyone?" No responses came to her, an occasional no, maybe, but never a real answer.

"I know!" Sarah's mind, half hysteric, began talking aloud, "I'll search in abandoned houses! He may be upset that he hurt us and he had no better place to hide away in! He HAS to be there!" Sarah's expression lightened and she zoomed off to the run-down half of the town.

Empty house after empty house, Sarah's mind kept repeating. _He'll be in the next one. _She kept telling herself the same thing over and over again, slowly beginning to think and realize the truth that he was gone.

"Ok! Stephen? Stephen! Can you hear me?" She slowed down as she spoke, rushing around like a mindless machine.

"Please? Stephen? Come out!" She begged, tears forming in her eyes again. _He's not here…_

"STEPHEN!" She cried out one last time, eyes blurred with tears as she opened the next door.

She saw something grey in the corner of this house and her hopes soared. When she dove at it, and closed her eyes, hoping to hug Stephen again, the floor gave in, and she fell down with the trench coat held up by a mop that she thought was her best friend.

She hit the floor hard, and then looked at the mop.

"Stephen…" She sobbed hopelessly, slowly becoming a wail as she repeated his name laying down on the ground in a tangled mess from the fall.

* * *

"Mom, I think it is just a bit too loose…" Daisy commented as Cosmo and the tailor fitted the dress to Daisy's unusual body structure.

"Hold on, he's fixing something…" Cosmo informed as she watched the tailor, massive compared to the small, childlike creatures in front of him.

"Done, I think. Feel alright Ms. Prower?"

"Yes sir! Is it able to be bought now?" Daisy squeaked excitedly.

"It most certainly is. It will cost you a lot though…"

"No money is a problem," Tails stepped in, dressed in a jet black tuxedo, "I can pay anything." Tails pulled out a debit card and waited for the man to ring up the wedding dress and his own suit.

"You know, did you just go through a bit of court trouble, Mr. Prower?"

"Yes, but, I don't like to think about that too much. Thank you for your services…" Tails took his family away from the store and together, they all piled into the Green Storm, and jetted off.

"Call Brunis, ok? We don't want to have him se you dressed like THAT yet." Cosmo recommended to her daughter.

"Good idea!" She agreed as she flipped out her small phone, texting.

"_We're coming home, so, either hide, or go out somewhere to not see me. I love you._"

Five seconds after Daisy hit send, a message appeared of her phone.

"_Sarah went missing, I'll find her within a few hours, I promise. Love you baby, Brunis._"

Daisy smiled warmly and began texting a response.

* * *

Brunis ran into the city like a tank, massive and unstoppable. He'd followed not only Sarah's scent, but also her foot prints and logical guessing; he'd be a good hunter if he wanted to be.

She had come into the city a while ago, or it seemed that way, as her foot prints and scent were screwed up due to her speed, and from the looks of it, she had stopped at houses in the run-down and dangerous section of the city for whatever reason.

"_Ok, be safe Brunis, and don't be late, ok?_" He read the text and grinned.

"_I'll be fine, don't worry. And I'll be there in a bit, I think I might've found her..."_

Brunis slowed his speed down as he came to the next house. A green headband, the same kind Sarah would wear to match her jacket, was hanging off of the door's handle.

Brunis's eyes bulged and he jumped into the room immediately, only later noticing the absence of floor. However, unlike the previous victim to this faulty building, he landed on his feet perfectly.

In the corner of the room, a disheveled, miserable hedgehog lay, partially mangled from her fall, and sobbing still.

Brunis's expression changed again, and he gracefully strode over to little Sarah Rose. Kneeling down to her as if she was a princess, he looked her over one more time. Sensing she needed some form of comfort, he gently hoisted her off of the ground and sat down himself, cradling her body like he would a baby. **(A/N: No, this doesn't mean there will be a Sarah and Brunis relationship to those of you who think that way. Sarah just needs someone to be there for her, and Brunis knows he can do that.)**

"You can just call me big brother Brunis, ok?" He patted her back as she let out more salt water than Brunis thought people could withhold.

"Any reason you ran off?" He asked, still gently, "you're parents are worried sick."

"There has to-" Sarah gasped for a well needed breath, "be good in-"another deep inhalation of dusty air, "him."

"Stephen? Oh Sarah… you'll make more friends-"

"NO I WON'T! Ok? Stephen is…" Sarah found her will to speak diminishing rapidly.

Brunis was silent, and then begged the question. "You like him, don't you?"

Sarah's face, buried into Big Brother's chest, nodded.

"He can't be gone… I've got to find him… I…" Sarah silenced again.

Brunis broke the silent barrier between them with an interjection, "you're our ring bearer."

"Wh-what?"

"Daisy and I need you at the wedding, to bring our rings forwards and let us use them on each other. No one else really can do this… Brian's already got a position in this wedding, and because this is secret, we've got a limited amount of people to use, you being one of them. I, we, really need you. Is it that much to ask?" Brunis warmly pleaded.

"No… it isn't… and I shouldn't be such a pain… but, I'll only go if we all find Stephen later… I-"

"It's a deal." Brunis said, knowing that Sarah would've found a way to embarrass herself had she continued talking. "Do you want me to carry you? Or do you want to walk?"

"I'm exhausted…" Sarah groaned, becoming limp in Brunis's arms.

"Ok then, we'll be home soon."

"Thanks Brunis… Daisy's a lucky girl." Sarah sighed as she fell into a trancelike state.

"I know she is…" Brunis mumbled as he walked elegantly out of the house and back towards the house he helped build.

* * *

"AHA!" Damian cheered proudly as he held up a small device.

"Aha what?" Richard demanded, eying him skeptically.

"Aha! I created the device to get this ship powered! Bokkun, send ULv2.0 to the operating room, I'll be there after we capture or destroy Sonic's family and Tails' family."

"Aye-aye sir!" The little purple figure began to type on a keyboard and then pulled Stephen's entire set up on the wall off, and began leading him elsewhere.

"As for this…" Damian chuckled as he held up his box, "you're going into use now…"

Damian hooked up a variety of cords to the box, and then grabbed, with a modified, rubber padded, anti-radioactive claw, the Arcanium crystal he'd pulled from Quasar's chest. Placing the jewel into the box, he began tightening a few clamps to it, and then closed the box. With the press of a single button, the ship's lights surged with energy, more than they had been built for. The engines burst with power, and the frame of the ship began to shake and rumble.

In seconds, they were high above the ocean, sitting gently atop a cloud in the bright sunny day.

"Now! Set a course for Sonic the Hedgehog's house! FULL SPEED AHEAD!"

Damian and Richard both stared at the computer screen and the window viewing the ground beneath them as the massive battle ship lurched forward in the air, swooping closer sweet revenge.

* * *

**I don't know why, but that seemed short. (Yeah, to any of you who don't sense it, that Climax is at our noses, I am so excited! I FINALLY get to write this thing out in the computer. [I went insane at school and wrote tidbits of it because the ideas were so awesome to me... it was weird though, I can't stand my hand writing, I suck at it.])**

**I hope it turns out as nicely as it is in my head...**

**More coming soon...**


	29. Capture

**Sorry for the late update... Over the margin between updates, I got the cops called on me! My girflriend's parents thought I was a sexual predator onlnie... (Figures... I knew talking mature and adultlike would have its drawbacks sooner or later...) needless to say, I'm pleased with that action, because now they know how much of a golden student I am, (4.0 since 7th grade, age, home location, parent's names, my athleticism, and that I've never gotten into trouble with the cops before in my life.) So, now, I'm hoping, they'll let me talk to their daughter again, despite the fact I live in a faraway state.**

**Ignoring my personal problems and dilemas, here is another update for y'all, I'm hoping that this story hasn't gotten TOO boring for some of you, and that the seemingly repetitive themes in my stories aren't boring you to death. I will, hopefully soon, read up on new plots to adapt, and get new ideas.**

**Without futher ado...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Daisy, Tails and Cosmo, all piled out of their airplane into the dull, fluorescently lit cavern they now called home, now dressed for occasion. The three strode through various hallways and made it back to the tunnel that led up into Sonic's home, partially out of worry for Sarah, and to tell them that Brunis had said he thought he found her. A lift brought them through the tube, making sure they didn't get their outfits dirty.

"Sonic? Amy? We have some good news…" Tails began before describing Brunis's reports to them.

"Oh, that's great…" Sonic sighed, plopping back onto the couch with his wife, still partially unconscious on the couch.

"Yeah, and we think Brunis ought to be here within the hour… so… we only have to get the wedding set up, which, for the most part, it is. It is a small one, so, we're the only guests…" Tails and his family sat down on the opposing couch, completing the small room.

"When did we become the bad guys? I mean… my fame can't help me anymore, and you just got done with a court hearing or whatever… and… what the hell happened to us bro?" Sonic's hands buried his face… "what the hell happened to us…"

"Sonic, are you ok? I mean, are you going to be ok enough to be at this wedding? If you're not-" Daisy, again, was worrying.

"Daisy, shush." Tails' ears perked up, alerted to some soft noise elsewhere. "Do you hear jet engines?"

"No… why?" Daisy asked quietly.

"Shush… I hear them too… they're getting louder…"

Everyone in the room, to better hear the noise, closed their eyes. Brian, just getting done with eating a huge breakfast, walked in a few moments later.

"Hey guys?" Everyone opened their eyes and noticed the ominous shadow over their home, "where did the sun go?"

In that moment, the most horrible shredding noise was heard, the ripping of their own roof. Claws from a massive airship above reached down and tore off the top of house, and more came to reach for people.

Daisy and Amy came first, being closest to the windows and more in the open than the others. And then, with two more claws, a shocked Brian and Cosmo were abducted, carried off through the air to the ship above the once beautiful home.

Cannons shot down, creating fires and aiming at Sonic and Tails, both too quick for capture. Robots by the plenty dropped down into the remains of the home, all firing guns and lasers at the dynamic duo. Sonic and Tails, in their older years, were starting to feel overwhelmed.

"I don't think… anyone's ever… went this all out without a warning!" Sonic shouted, jumping away from another claw trying to grab him.

"No one has Sonic! EACK!" Tails felt something grab his leg and pull him backwards upside down towards the ship above.

"Give up your darn hedgehog! I win this time!" A voice, all too familiar for this hedgehog, demanded.

"Never! Give me back my family!" Sonic retorted, destroying more robots and claws with his homing attack.

"Fine then." The claws with everyone fell to the ground, now contricting each of them with their large fingered grasps.

"Let them go!" Sonic again demanded.

Lasers came down from the ship and aimed right at each and everyone one of them.

"NO!" Sonic screamed.

"Give up." The voice spat, five claws for his body and limbs came down.

"Never!" Sonic bitterly resisted, standing in the middle of the ring of his family and friends, staring them down looking for a way out.

The green light on all of the cannons began to glow, charging for a blast set for kill, with an aim too accurate to mess.

They say love is irrational, and, with all due respect, it is in more ways imaginable. For Sonic the hedgehog, in order to save his family from an immediate death, fell backwards into those claws, tears welling in his eyes, to be carried up into this ship, no doubt spelling doom to him, and possibly thus, the world. **(A/N: If you think about it, if they kill Sonic, Damian could take over the world...)**

* * *

"Quasar, Quasar, Quasar… always getting into the most tedious of troubles…" A wise, silver and purple robot strode through the corridors, all darkened because school was out.

"Hmm… the gym… _kelthos!_"XT commanded at the doors, and the immediately opened into his office. "Now little daughter… what quandary hath thou found?" His green eyes started into the computer screen as he manually looked up all of the data files and cameras that his daughter had been into.

"Chaos Emerald? Interesting… And what? Captured by GUN? AND TAILS WENT TO COURT?! AND BRUNIS!!! Whoa… focus dude, focus… Where is my daughter…" XT kept reading looking around for any signs, but Quasar cancelled her log just after it read "StephenXSarah in trouble, intervening…" And it all cut off from there.

"I knew that boy would be amazing… but what happened… c'mon lil- Q, where'd you go?" XT closed his eyes and sat down on the ground in lotus position, humming as if he was capable of human meditating.

He was, in a sense, doing just that though. His senses shut down, and he began reading patterns of energy flow throughout the planet; Quasar's crystal heart, just like his own, would be a massive bulge in the radiation sphere that he saw was the planet, a spike among spikes.

In minutes, he found it, and began triangulating it with satellite imaging and mapping.

"Why are you on a ship? And why are you not responding… Oh dear, XT to the rescue, again…" The old robot lifted his mighty wings and soared through the halls, bursting through the doors, letting the gym close itself.

The air was ripped into a sonic boom as he jettisoned out of the school and into the airspace now contested with the warship that held his daughter hostage.

* * *

Brunis and Sarah chugged along the path, watching the birds and trees slowly grow as they made their way home. They were taking their time. Brunis looked ahead for a brief momet though, and saw something he didn't expect, smoke.

"Smoke? Why would they be making a fire? Daisy and Cosmo can't stand fire and heat… fire… DAISY!" Brunis set Sarah down on the ground and ran as fast as he could to the home he built for the Rose family a week or so ago.

He found the entire building burned to ashes.

"No…" The silver wolf dropped to his knees at the smoldered front porch.

Sarah was already at his side, wide-eyed with her legs trembling. "Are-are mom and dad… gone?"

"They very well could be burnt to ashes at the bottom of this mess… want to help me dig?" He added glumly, knowing his duty.

"Mom… dad… Stephen… Daisy… Mrs. And Mr. Prower… Brian… WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE TO GO IN THIS WORLD!? IT ISN'T FAIR!" Sarah fell to her knees and began sobbing again.

"Who the hell did this?" Brunis growled, looking around for tire tracks, not bearing to admit his fiancée could be dead.

Sarah, on her back, looked into the sky. "That is a weird cloud…" she mumbled whimsically.

Brunis glanced at the jet stream above, and glared. "Someone had aerial forces to attack them, or capture… and I know one son of a bitch who has that kind of money… that sick, twisted, bas- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Brunis heaved a stone into the air, watching it follow the path of the jet stream for a while before it came down. The moment it hit the earth, too far away to be seen, he roared with a beastly vigor, "RICHARD!!! I WILL DESTROY YOU!" Brunis hopped over the charred rubble a few yards away and dug into the hole that led to the basement.

The Workshop was still operational, and using it, he brought forth a machine that Tails built a long time ago, a Flapter. A flapter was a winged sled that soared through the air. Tails had hoped that Cosmo would enjoy taking joyrides with him and Daisy through the air on some days, but they never liked flying as much as he did, so they hadn't been used often.

Brunis heaved the lightweight sled into the air and ran it off to the center of the Workshop, directly to the Sonic Driver's location. Placing the green sled into the cannon's loading bay, he primed the cannon to launch him and the sled out towards the jet stream. Giving himself 10 seconds to get ready, he started the countdown to launch.

"Daisy… I'm coming…" A look of sheer determination on his face gleamed for a brief moment, and then he was fired into the air at speeds far greater than the speed of sound.

* * *

"Where is Brunis you stupid flower?" Richard glared into Daisy's eyes.

The gorgeous girl's legs shook violently at the memories with Richard. She was now truly afraid of him, and he knew it. And now dressed in a wedding gown, and a veil over her head ready to be pulled down or the ceremony, she looked irresistible to Richard.

The cat boy forced a kiss into her mouth, and then pulled back to interrogate the rest of them.

Tails, Sonic, Cosmo, Amy, Brian and Daisy all hung, with legs and arms bound, to walls, unable to move at all. They were in a jail of sorts, but more open, and they could all see each other.

Richard gave each one of them the death stare. "He will die. Brunis will die if he tries to lay a foot in this mighty fortress. Don't you, any of you, think of him living, understand? He will be burned to shreds even if he can get up into the air."

"Are you this ship's captain?" Tails questioned.

"That would be me, fox-boy. Or should I say, fox?" A tall, fat man with an orange moustache walked into the room.

Sonic, Tails, Amy and Cosmo all tensed. "Dr. Eggman!" They all said in shock and unison at the figure in the doorway.

"I AM NOT DOCTOR EGGMAN!" The doppelganger cried out.

"Gee doc, I knew you were crazy, but I didn't think you forgot that much…" Sonic's old wit returned to him as he smiled, possibly to impress his wife.

"For your information, hedgehog," he spat, "I am Doctor Damian Robotnik, clone of Doctor Ivo Robotnik. I am his son and successor, out to avenge my originator, and CONQUER THE WORLD! I am unlike my predecessor, I am much more accurate and strategic than boisterous and cocky. I actually do, whereas that lousy excuse for a scientist did nothing but laugh about losing."

"You don't look any different to me Robuttnik." Sonic again teased.

"Stop calling me that you insolent rodent! Sooner than later, when I devise a plan to do so, I will kill you all properly, and avenge my creator's name." With that, Damian and Richard fled the scene, leaving the two families to panic.

Daisy was the first to breakdown. Torture beyond measure by this boy, and now she was stuck in the same ship as he was, until she died. She was worried sick about having to submit to him again, but she, at this very moment couldn't do anything. She wailed and wailed, and had no Brunis to hug her and hold her this time.

"Has he failed you yet honey?" Cosmo asked sweetly.

"N-no…"

"Then will he come?"

"I don't know!" Daisy wailed again.

"You have to hope and believe Daisy. I learned that in my long years…" Tails sighed.

"Besides, I know this guy better," Sonic mentioned, "he won't have any idea what to do with us, and will probably find some way to get his ship blown-up or impounded before he can kill us. Dr. Eggman was the same way. He's no really threat."

They all needed comfort of some kind, even for themselves, and if lies worked, then they'd lie, to their families and to themselves.

* * *

Sarah watched the little speck that was Brunis vanish into the horizon, trailing a ship that was already far off and probably beyond his reach. A strange thought entered her mind. Once conceived, it melded with her mind and refused to separate itself again.

"What if Stephen is with them? Someone made Stephen attack me and my parents… and whatever it was destroyed my house… maybe… maybe Stephen will be there! And maybe…" Sarah's face grew dark with determination and the malice of revenge, "maybe my parent's killers are on that ship…"

Sarah hobbled over the piles of debris, found that same hole, and dove into the Workshop. With her ultra-fast feet, she darted around, searching for something to fly in. She found only one thing that she _knew_ flew, an older model of the Tornado.

Strapping on a helmet, and hopping into the cockpit, the plane immediately responded, scaring Sarah out of her wits. The plane, already on its deployment path, began to start up, and move forwards towards the exit.

"Crap!! How do I work this thing?" Sarah was beyond desperate, rapidly shuffling her legs into a more comfortable position as the plane automatically took off.

In moments, she was in the air, rocketing beneath the jet stream she was trying to follow.

"I'm going to find you Stephen! I KNOW I WILL!" Sarah called to the sky as she took the control stick in her hand and began to manipulate the jet to follow the trail leading straight to her parents' assailant.

* * *

**So yeah... Now we've got an entire war to be fought on that ship belonging to Damian. Ooh this'll be fun!**

**More coming soon...**


	30. Infiltration

**Not much to say, really, though I have to admit, the negative comments, (though they do help, when in small amount,) REALLY wear me down and discourage me. I write because it is fun, yes. But, I also relish the comments like "Dude you rock" and "omg! NO WAY!" to my plot twists, (which, sadly, I know I must restock, as I have very few...) so, I mean, one or two negatives are fine, but I (especially right now with all of the problems in my social life, which have threatened to end my writing career COUNTLESS times in the past month,) really cannot afford too much negatives, and I REALLY need the positive support. Granted, now I don't want people to give me positive comments out of pity, as that is lame, weak, and pathetic. (Not to mention annoying as hell.) So, I don't even know why I bother to say that... ah well, I'm not deleting it...**

**And Dogbert/Dilbert, you'll get your action soon enough. And if it isn't want you wanted, well, just deal with it. You're lucky as it is I've decided to finish this story, rather than leave it hang like I probably should have...**

**Note: I will be using swear words a bit more frequently these next two, maybe three chapters, I hope you are all ok with that. (If not, give me a call, you know how to contact me.)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

XT sat atop the metal flying fortress deep in analysis and thought. He was searching for Quasar again. The clouds whipped his face but didn't budge him an inch, as he was magnetized to the hull of the ship.

"That's the crystal, but… she's not using the right amount of energy… she's using so little! And, if she's not using any of the recycled radiation, well… that could lead to an explosion, she knows this… why isn't she doing it right?" His eyes clicked open, and he sat up, and began walking carefully and lightly around the outer section of the quickly moving ship, looking for an entrance in which he wouldn't disturb anyone. He didn't want to be here right now.

XT groaned as his fingers all expanded into small, extra limbs, and he began crawling silently along the underside of the ship.

"Parenthood, the world's toughest, and worst paying job, at least some negative million dollars a year…" He grumbled as he stealthily entered the warship via exhaust pipe.

* * *

Brunis and his flapter roared in the air, wings beating to keep it floating in the air. A small dot, the image of the ship that supposedly killed his fiancée, loomed ahead.

"No chance, none. You are NOT getting away from me this time!" Brunis threw the throttle in full-forward and held on as the small sled's jets activated for the remainder of the journey.

In a minute or so, he had caught up with the massive aerial juggernaut, and he purposely crashed the ship into the hull, making a small hole. He jumped a second before impact, and landed, claws bared and dug into the metal, a few feet above the worst of the explosion of his craft. Barely singed, he scooted himself downwards, and landed feet first into the interior of the ship, greeted with a small warning in action.

"Explosion in sector 12, explosion in sector 12, main hull damaged at 1 percent. Damage negligible." A few robots rushed in to fix the hole, but Brunis was already hiding watching them from behind a corner.

As they turned to leave, Brunis felt his anger boil over.

"THAT'S FOR KILLING DAISY YOU METAL BASTARD!" He roared as he ripped the limbs to shreds and the face to scrap.

The last one, before digging his claws into its face, he stared down, so Richard, who he was sure was watching, would know what was coming for him; hell on earth.

* * *

Richard looked at the monitors and his jaw dropped. "I-I told you… I-How-shit. We're screwed. He's here, and he wants me dead… WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?? TRACK HIM DOWN! WHERE ARE YOUR ESCAPE-PODS? KKIL HIM OR SOMETHING!" Richard babbled incoherently for the next minute before Damian slapped him.

"Will you shut up? I swear, I see why your parents leave you alone so often."

"What did you say?"

"Shut up. And listen to me, we can get rid of him, we just have to send more robots, and then, if he DOES find us, we'll use some form of _collateral _to bribe him not to kill us."

"Like?"

"A precious flower." Damian chuckled, and the two ran off with more devious plots in their heads.

* * *

Sarah's piloting was terrible. She had no skills with handling a plane, and was having a difficult time keeping the plane straight; much less guide it to the source of the jet exhaust in the stratosphere.

Sooner than later, she found the very speck in the horizon she was looking for.

"Ok, I'm going to go on there, look around for Stephen, find Brunis if I don't find Stephen, and then help him get back at whoever it was who killed my mom and dad… I'm going to kill him… kick him so hard he won't live… he killed my parents… mom… dad… Ste-Stephen…" Sarah's eyes closed partially, welling with tears, "STEPHEN!" She charged the vehicle in the distance, making sure not to completely ram into the vessel. **(A/N: Sorry, lots of skipping around... This chapter's purpose is to mainly set the pawns up for the final move, they are short, quick moves meant not to entertain, but to prepare for battle, lol.)**

* * *

Julie and THEA appeared in the sky, bringing a mass of storm clouds with them.

"Wow! That was a bit bumpier than usual…" Julie agreed by gripping her stomach with Anna's hand.

"You ready to come out?" The melodious voice of Anna questioned the frail girl within her.

"Yeah, drop me off… wherever you think XT will be." Julie moaned, tired from her trip.

"We'll set you at his house here, and then go and get him over there, ok?" Anna told her sweetly.

"Ok, sounds great Anna, hurry, ok?"

The bronze ship hovered over a small shack a few seconds later, and Anna hopped out, Julie encased inside her. Anna's chest opened up, and her skin peeled off of Julie, who had small bruises all over her body.

"JULIE! Are you ok?!" Anna's eyes were wide with worry.

"Yes," Julie gasped, realizing how hard it was to walk, "I'm fine," as she staggered into the home of her beloved.

"No you're not-"

"Anna, go get XT, ok? I'll be fine; after all, I think it was you who said one of the things you loved about the human race is how hardy we are."

"Ok… but remember, you're not invincible."

"I am when you guys are around me." Julie smirked as she waved farewell to THEA, in their bronze ship, _The Resonance_.

* * *

Brunis ploughed through the base with a wrath only conceivable by himself. He ripped robots to shred with his teeth and claws and fists, and took an occasional laser shot from the last one in a platoon to be foolish enough to attack him. He was unstoppable.

"SHOW YOURSELF RICHARD!" he demanded in full roar as he sprinted around the bases upper levels, searching for any sign of Richard, and possibly Daisy.

Door by door, they all fell, except one reinforced one, which he could not penetrate. He battered and banged it until the wall around it fell down, wires sizzling all over the place.

There, he found a terrible predicament. Sonic, Cosmo, Amy, Tails, and Brian were all imprisoned on the wall, and a massive robot stood in the middle of the beast, a fat scientist with a control panel before him, smirking. The robot was at least 15 feet tall with a razor sharp sword on one arm, and a spiked shield on the other. The creature was as menacing as it was impervious to attack. But the crimson coloring of the robot, or his enslaved family and friends to that family, that bothered him.

It was her. And it was him. Those two, they bothered him; and how his hand wrapped around her waist; and that lustful look in his eyes, possessive almost. But worst of all, the way her face looked, and the way her legs quivered, her terrified appearance, dressed beautifully in her wedding dress. For the wedding that had been so rudely interrupted.

"Hello Brunis."

"You're all alive…" Brunis muttered out.

Richard pulled Daisy back a few inches at the sound of his voice. Brunis only glared.

"Take your pick, if you choose Daisy, I'll kill your family," the scientist aimed his sword at Cosmo's throat.

"But if you choose them, Daisy's mine, I will start running, and you won't catch us in time." Richard licked his lips, signifying what he was going to do.

Brunis held a hand out towards Daisy, trying to reach her across the room, and recoiled it as he saw the doctor's robot raise its sword, aimed at Cosmo's neck.

Torn, he mouthed to Daisy, "_I love you._"

And then he jumped to combat the robot with the sword. Richard stared at Brunis for a moment, contemplating this, and then ran off with a struggling Daisy.

* * *

Sarah's borrowed ship was being carefully and unskillfully maneuvered towards the underside of the ship. Sarah had checked everywhere, and couldn't find an entrance. Looking around on the belly of the craft, she found no entrance either.

Guiding the small plane up to the top again was extremely difficult for her, but she did it anyways, hoping to find an entrance. Oddly enough, on the backside, on a slant, there was a small hole, just big enough to fit a big person in. _That may be my best bet…_ Sarah thought as she maneuvered towards the breach.

During the procedure, side plating on the building-sized airship slid around, and out of the gaps, twin tubes came out, of all of them. These black turrets, sheathed in a red base, all turned and angled themselves to face Sarah, and all of them began to glow a bright orange on the inside.

"CRAP!" Sarah screamed as she pulled the plane away.

The lasers came out to rapidly, however, and Sarah was thrown forward, out of the plane as it exploded. Her body hit the broken metal that was a part of the hole in the hull, and she clenched onto it for dear life.

She slid down and landed in the hallway. Her hands cringing outwards, and her body frozen with fear, she looked at her reflection in the eyepieces of the wall of robotic debris, realizing she wasn't dead, yet.

"Oh my gosh. I'm alive." She sat down for a second, pressing her back deep against the cool grey wall. _Grey…_ She thought dreamily, _Stephen is grey… grey is such a nice color… wait… Grey? STEPHEN! STEPHEN I'M COMING!_ Sarah hopped to her feet and ran fast enough to create a vacuum within the halls of the ship.

* * *

Richard's grip on Daisy was feral and brutal, and Daisy, now knowing what Richard could do to her with the right equipment, was petrified. Her arms were bound behind her, and she knew, as Richard forced her forwards through the dimly lit halls, headed towards the control room. Richard figured, if he needed a ride out of here, that would be how and where to contact them.

"Come on you wretched flower, my _Queen_." He seethed as his arm gripped her skin tighter.

Her face tried to looked bold and determined, that she would be saved by Brunis, but at this point, she could help but be frightened. She'd seen this horrible boy overreact, and she'd been beaten, raped, and horribly insulted by him. She was so ready for it to end, she'd do anything.

_Oh… someone… anyone… please oh please oh please… end it all… just get him away from me once and for all…_

"WEEEE!" A bright yellow blur whooshed past Richard and Daisy from behind, and caused Richard to fall on Daisy, pinning her against a wall.

"Well, I wasn't planning on this, but I'm not saying I don't like it…" Richard smirked as he moved his lips closer to her face.

Daisy's face tried to recoil from his bulging lips.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY! MOVE IT!" A hulking green figure pushed past the two, knocking them further across the wall.

"Sorry! Coming through!" A pink robot dove over them, waving as she ran backwards.

"Koika! Ich auch!" A slithery silver, black, and indigo robot slunk hastily past Richard's and Daisy's legs and started bouncing off the walls, denting up everything in its path, right next to the ones that followed it.

An orange, slightly deformed one passed them then. Growling as he went, the four armed, four legged robot knocked them onto the floor with his frontal horns, rushing off to be with his family.

Richard stood up, and looked at Daisy, on the ground. Her dress was dirtied, and she was unmoving.

"Get up. Get up you wretched wife." Richard kicked her and pulled at her arms as she moaned.

"HELP ME!" She screamed.

A sixth, and final robot appeared. Running lightly, and donning a blue robe, similar to that of a wizard's, he jumped over the two, and glared at Richard.

"I can read that mind of yours as clearly as I can see this girl's opposition to your aggression and abuse." He smacked Richard in the skull with his index and middle finger, and waited for him to get up as he moved like liquid in place. "Now, get away from her, understand? _Moko akae, kleidio sai!"_ He roared as a blue beam of energy exploded from his frontal lobe, and focused in on Richard's head.

The cat collapsed instantaneously.

The blue robot flipped backwards and began his light jog again.

"He'll be out for a while Daisy, it was nice to meet you again." And then he darted around the corner, along with the rest of his gang.

Daisy looked down at the unconscious cat for a moment, and just took all of that information in for a moment. _I am free of him for a while… I am free._

Daisy stood up, and reached around Richard for a key he was carrying. The moment she found it, she released herself, and started pulling Richard back to Brunis. This time, she wanted to see Richard destroyed. **(A/N: I've officially changed THEA's color scheme, Lily is yellow, Gannon is Orange, Anna is still pink, James is a darker blue, Xenophon has light blue hues added to him, and Lance remains green. XT will ALWAYS remain the royal purple.)**

* * *

Brunis was stuck this time. The robot had him in a head lock, and was slowly choking the life out of him. Brunis was fit, and was giving the machine a very hard time, but it was built to kill, and he wasn't, so it was winning, slowly but surely.

His family screamed at the doctor to stop, begging him to save the wolf's life, but he had other plans. Brunis kicked, punched, and thrashed around, but he wasn't getting anywhere.

The door on the side that Richard left with Daisy opened, and everyone glanced at the opening for a moment to see Daisy herself with Richard tied up, her mouth in awe and horror.

"LET HIM GO YOU MONSTER!" Daisy let Richard's limp body hit the ground, and she jumped at the robot, trying to distract it to stop it from killing Brunis long enough to make a plan.

Damian picked her up and mashed her right next to Brunis.

"Hello Daisy…" He said in a joking manner.

"Brunis… ugh…" She choked. The robot was pushing her into Brunis, in an uncomfortable way, trying to kill them both.

"Honey, I don't… need an apology… you did nothing wrong…"

"I love you…" She said it as if it was the last thing he'd ever hear her say.

"I love you too Daisy." They were too out of breath to say much more.

Damian was prepared to hold them like this for as long as it took.

* * *

Sarah rushed around the halls leading to the basement, checking every door she could open. She swore, in the distance, she heard a moaning, tortured voice, she was following it. It was like a beast, chained in place, and being slowly burned by fire.

Above all of the gunfire, clanking, running, and battering the ship made, Sarah kept hearing that beast roaring. She peeked into every room she could until she came across a laboratory-like place. She walked inside this room following a gut feeling that someone else was in this room.

The growls had stopped, but they were vigorously loud before she entered the room. She searched around, looking for a source, but only found disturbing tools, hooks, needles, mechanical arms, monitors and the like. The eeriest things were in tubes in the back. Green liquid with blobs of matter changing constantly, all marked, unstable element. Some were a familiar hue of grey.

Sarah looked at these stubs closer, and watched the blobs wiggle more excitedly at her approach.

"What are you?" She wondered aloud as she looked at the tables before her. Notes and drabbles abundant, she noticed her name, and a few other strange codes.

"ULv2.0, a remarkable creation of my grand design." Sarah read from a log, "I built him to surpass my ancestors, to defeat a common adversary that none of us has ever bested, Sonic the Hedgehog. ULv2.0 will be the end of him. He is feral, bestial in more ways imaginable. He has reacted to my 'tests' in pleasing ways, and has almost successfully escaped many times. I even had to create a new lock for him in which he cannot escape. I only need to learn how to control him… and one that is done… THE ROSE FAMILY WILL FINALLY BE DEFEATED!"

Sarah looked at this information, and cringed. A mad scientist built a creature in a lab to kill her and her father and her mother.

"You," she looked at the blob, "you were built to kill me?" The blob barely reacted, it wasn't even truly alive. "Well, you lost, someone already killed my parents. Maybe it was you… anyways… you can try to kill me once I'm done with-"

"ARGGGGHHH!" A voice roared.

In the corner, a blue bolt of lightning zapped a figure fixed firmly into the wall with a multitude of wires, straps, and locks.

Sarah jumped at the noise, but then became curious. Looking closer at the figure, she felt pity for him. It was the face of a deranged killer, whose mind and personality were stripped away from him in order to kill those whom he called friends.

It was the face of Stephen, the boy she loved so much.

* * *

**You see? I CAN be evil sometimes... though some of you *cough* dogbert/dilbert *cough* don't seem to think so, I feel really good about this next chapter...**

**More coming soon...**


	31. Love

**Well I'm back, and yeah, this is it. The climax I have been raving about has arrived. I am pleased, you may not be, but, ah well, I wrote this part for me, lol.**

**I don't have much to say... but I will have lot's to say afterwards, lol...**

**Note: The following scene is similar to my Saria and Link story's confession scene. I have had this written a LONG time ago, lol.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Sarah stared at him, and he stared back.

"RAAAAAAAARGH!" He roared as blue energy coursed through him, keeping him weakened and unable to fight the bonds holding him in place, eerily similar to the ones describe to house ULv2.0.

"Stephen…" Sarah looked him over with pity, sympathy, and worry.

Stephen thrashed around and gave her a glare, one that had death wreathed around it.

The room was darker than normal, just barely, and Sarah saw the controls that seemed to be linked to Stephen's shackles, keeping him locked to the wall. She contemplated a move, and decided with a gutsy attitude exactly what she was going to do.

"Stephen… you know I'm not that smart. Instead of staying home, I've been searching for the very person that just a little while ago threatened to kill me and my family. I know you meant it too." Sarah looked him over; wandering to the switch on the wall adjacent to the wall Stephen was locked against.

"And now that I've found him… locked up like a beast in front of me, I'm going to, well, define stupid." Sarah pulled down on the massive switch that bound Stephen, and muttered one more phrase. "You're free Stephen."

Stephen reacted immediately. Like a magnet trying to cling to a metal wall, Stephen lunged at her with a need so great it almost seemed more important to him than breathing.

Sarah would've welcomed this action with open arms, literally, had Stephen not been growling and howling as he did. She thought about running away, but the initial shock of Stephen's speed took her aback.

In seconds, his arms were around her neck, and he jumped over all of the tables, making her feet drag and hit every piece of debris in the path. His arms wrapped once around her neck as he began squeezing the life out of her.

Pinned against the wall, Sarah realized it. This was exactly like her dream. Stephen was the monster trying to kill her, which she herself had freed. She knew how it ended. She was going to die.

With this knowledge, this doom of death, she made one last decision. There was one thing she had to do before she died. Grabbing Stephen's arms, and struggling as hard as she could, she thrust his arms away from her neck, and stared the crazed hedgehog lookalike in the eyes.

"I'm going to die then?" She gasped, begging Stephen.

Stephen howled at her resilience, and let one arm down at his side. Flicking that arm, it became long, thin, and curved. Lashing it around at the right arm holding him in place, Sarah and Stephen alike watched as Stephen's skin sliced clean through her forearm.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGH!" Sarah wailed, closing her eyes, wincing in pain she thought was saved only for those headed to hell.

Sarah looked at her hand, on the floor, twitching slightly, and then looked at the bloody stub at the end of her arm.

"KILL ALL ROSE FAMILY!" Stephen roared at her face, making her eyes water more than she was bleeding.

"FINE!" She yelled back, momentarily stunning Stephen, "At least you'll be the last thing I'll see. My parents are all gone, killed by this place, and I'd be just fine dying! I-" Sarah struggled for the words. "I'm not sure if the real Stephen can hear me…" she spoke with a calm, resolved voice. "But… despite you being a monster… I love you." Sarah, still pushing his arms back with her hand and stub, leaned forward to meet her lips to his.

That passion that she had felt in the dream before Stephen tried to kill her came back, only, in a magnified form. The pleasure swept through her body like a live wire, and she didn't want it to ever end. Everything in her body went crazy. Her knees slightly buckled, her arm stopped hurting, and she quivered with fear, thrill, and blood loss.

Her arms fell to her sides, still kissing Stephen, waiting for him to send her away forever. She waited for that kill, but it never came.

* * *

His brain was a mess. Orders conflicted with desires, and desires interfered with orders. Right from wrong blurred, and he stopped thinking, yet continued his great epiphany. Her lips met his. _Why does this feel so great? What is that feeling? KILL ALL ROSE FAMILY! Kill this person! Why?_

In his head, everything that he had ever learned came forth, in front of all mental blocks and stoppers. A massive puzzle formed, in the shape of a young, attractive girl, the one he was kissing. Her anatomy appeared in front of him like a computer game, pieces of everything he'd ever learned filled her, making the puzzle complete itself. As he kissed her, all control of his body lost, another piece came in, it was a shiny little jigsaw. It floated around, and landed in her heart.

"I love you Stephen…" She whispered, and then faded away.

_Stephen? Who's Stephen? Love?_

All of it came back to him. Everything. The girl in front of him was Sarah. She loved him, a feeling that meant caring, hugging, kissing, anything to show a person that they wanted to be with you forever. Sarah wanted to be with him forever. She came to Stephen with an intension to die. To be killed by his own hands.

_I am Stephen. She is Sarah. She… loves me? _Stephen struggled vigorously with the voice inside his head, regaining control of himself.

* * *

Tears fell from Sarah's eyes like a waterfall. She wanted, no, needed, for it all to end. _Why isn't he killing me?_ She thought angrily. Her eyes blinked open for a moment, just to see Stephen one last time before she died. But instead, she saw Stephen's reaction to everything.

Still kissing him, she noticed his once angry eyes calming down, both partially closed. _Does… does he like it when I kiss him?_ Sarah thought hopelessly, pushing the kiss a bit further.

Time stopped, and Sarah and Stephen froze with it.

"S-Sarah?" Stephen broken voice broke through their barely parted lips. It sounded like he was just waking up from a dream.

"Stephen?" Sarah was trembling from fear, anxiety, blood loss, and insane hope. "You're, you're not killing me… Stephen? Are you… are you back?"

Stephen ignored her question, "Did you say you loved me?"

Sarah blushed a bit, a difficult task due to her lost blood, "Yes."

"You really… love me?"

"Stephen… yes…" Sarah kissed him one more time. He wasn't going to kill her.

Stephen thought back. _How did I get here? I had a horrible nightmare… killing all of those people, fighting Shadow, carrying her here… did that happen?_

"Sarah, did all of that happen? Including me… cutting…" He looked down at her arm, and his eyes bulged. "I'm a monster… I'm a horrible, horrible person… oh my gosh… holy crap…" A depression formed in Stephen's stomach, trying to squelch the pain he felt. Falling to the floor, Sarah looked at him.

"I… not running… I still love you. Arm or… no arm… get over here… that's an… order." Sarah looked at him and tottered a bit.

"Sarah!" Stephen ran to her side and helped her stand up.

"Stephen I… love…" Sarah's eyes rolled back into her head, and she collapsed in Stephen's arms.

"SARAH?!" Stephen shouted worriedly.

Again, in his mind, a picture of Sarah appeared. Diagnostics of her filed through his mind. He saw the blood loss affecting her on a cellular level, all of the severed veins and arteries, and concluded something her read in a book once.

"Shock…" he muttered, still worried. "Class III hemorrhage…" Stephen wrapped his arm around her stub, and mentally reconfigured it with small holes that her blood could flow through, reducing blood loss.

Stephen picked her up bridal style, arm tied to her, and began to walk. She needed medical help as fast as possible. Worst of all, he had no idea where he was, or where someone who could help would be.

* * *

"Oh little Quasar… how did you get effed up this time?" XT looked at the cold, metallic heap of metal that was once his daughter. **(A/N: Effed, lol, yeah, XT is an internet geek. If you don't know what this means, well, you've probably said it before without knowing.)**

"I'm not even sure I can fix you this time… I mean, I'd need that crystal… but… what if you don't come back… the crystal would have to be recharged and restarted, which would take a tremendous amount of energy on my part…"

"Talking to yourself again bro?" Anna bounded into the room, XT leaning over his dead daughter on the stretcher. "Oh… who is that?" She asked curiously.

"This… this was Quasar. My daughter. The General sent a bug to kill me, and I took the remains of that robot and added a few of my spare parts, and she was created." XT remembered glumly.

"Can we fix her?"

"I don't know… we'll need the crystal… but I have no idea where the heck it is. I think it is somewhere in this ship…"

"PRETTY LIGHT ABOVE YOUR HEADS!" Lily screeched.

XT, Anna, and James all looked up, Lance, Gannon, and Xenophon hadn't appeared yet.

"Ah! We very well CAN save her… but we'll need some cooperation…" XT smiled looking at his siblings.

"Duh!"

"Of course!" James replied in a dignified manner.

"Keto!" Xenophon agreed.

"YAY!" Lily shrieked.

"Why not?" Lance mumbled exasperated.

A grunt of approval came from the orange, horned robot known as Gannon.

"Ok… we need to… get that crystal to properly lodge into her body without touching it. It will overcharge any one of us, so, we'll create a… flow of energy? How will we get that crystal into her?"

"Our crystals. You said it, we need a flow of energy that the crystal will have to follow, and once it hits Quasar, we'll… redirect our energy… to stimulate the reattachment?" Anna got lost.

"Yeah, it will work." James agreed. "Any ideas how to do this?"

"Link up in a circle, and do what comes natural!" XT was as eccentric as ever.

Standing in a circle around Quasar, each figure placed their left hand on the figure on their right's shoulder, and then placed their right hand towards the center. Each began mumbling something strange, all in different tongues, and only Xavier's was actually in Rinocian.

A pulse of energy began circulating clockwise around them, and visible energy was flowing from the space at their raised hands, and shooting down their arms into the flowing circle.

Slowly, the Arcanium crystal, lodged above Quasar in a box still, began to dislodge and fall down into her exposed inner chest. The ship rocked at the sudden reduction of power, but remained up in the air, if a bit feebly.

The crystal fell into Quasar's chest and THEA began to change their tactics. Lowering their hands, and moving their fingers, the energy started to swirl around Quasar, making clicks and hums of different tones.

Quasar's eyes became tinged green, and the energy along her body started flowing again, all under careful monitoring of THEA. Her fingers twitched, and the energy and greenness of her body increased.

"Gutstein! Halt." All of the robots retracted their hands, and looked at Quasar, groggily filled with energy.

… _chance, one to right my wrongs and make up with my father on a lot of things… _Quasar finally finished her thought before speaking.

"I… I feel funny…" Quasar opened her eyes. The overdose of energy in her Arcanium heart was overpowering everything.

"Hi honey. How are you doing." XT patted her head, letting the other robots lean in on her.

"Who the hell are all of you?" Quasar didn't notice it, but the head rush was getting worse, and she was starting to tinge orange.

"Technically, we are your aunts and uncles. We're Xavier's family! My names Anna, and- Xavier… is she turning red?" Anna watched as a spark of red lightning jumped from Quasar and impaled her chest, sending the pink robot backwards a bit.

"Scheize!" Xenophon shouted as he began to run.

Quasar's eyes filled with red, and she began to moan loudly as the excess energy coursed through her with rapid velocity, overloading every system she had. It was like a seizure, only, she was a robot, and was physically sparking.

"Get out of here! EVERYONE! RUN!" XT commanded, and the group ran from the room.

Stopping at the door, XT looked at his daughter, "Cutie, I'll get you after you calm down, ok? I'd be in there, but none of us want to-!" A bolt of chaotic energy shot from Quasar's chest and threw XT out of the door.

With that, he ran for his life.

"AAAAAAUGGGGGGGH!!!" Emotions, or systems of emotions, ran through Quasar, making her mind as volatile as her body.

As she emitted more power than Damian could've handled, the ship began to lose control of itself. The ship jerked and vibrated violently, trying to use the energy, but having no port for it. As Quasar unwillingly supplied it, the ship's rocking became more violent, and lights began surging until they all broke in their glass casings.

Anger followed this energy inside of Quasar. She felt contempt for the man that inflicted all of this upon her. Damian Robotnik was a main target of her wild energy.

"I'm going to blow this fricking base to HELL! WHERE IT BELONGS DAMNIT! GRRRRAAAAAUUUUGHHH!!" She roared the energy Damian accidentally created was going to be his undoing. **(A/N: She's got lip, sass, and the power to blow shit up. Be warned boys.)**

* * *

Damian's robot fell to the floor, releasing a nearly passed out Daisy and Brunis. The two landed on the floor, Brunis naturally stopping Daisy's fall, in a tired heap.

"Damian! What's happening?" Tails demanded, looking at the doctor, both of them scared out of their wits.

"The base is overloading with energy! I-I've never seen so much of it before!"

"Wha-what dpes that mean?" Amy asked, worried.

"If you fill a balloon with too much air, what happens?"

"It pops." Brian said, smiling at his first experience with blowing up balloons.

"This base is going to explode due to overpowering. See you all!" Damian's robot began jogging out of the room on two stubbing legs, shaking the ship even more.

"EXPLODE!? SONIC GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" Amy shrieked.

Brian hopped to his feet, and threw his weight into a punch at Sonic's wall cell. Then, together, they broke into, some of the pulsing cells taking two or more hits, Cosmos's, Tails', Brian's, and of course, Amy's. Brunis grabbed Daisy, unconscious by now, and started running with the group as they made their way into the halls, trying to find a way out.

"Brunis, where is your ship?" Tails questioned, calculating.

"Making a hole in the side of this darn vessel." Tails made a quick left, changing direction.

"Dang it… Damian ought to have a hangar somewhere… I want to take one of his ships. It may be a tight squeeze, so, EVERYONE had better not complain, and hold on for dear life if they have to.

Sure enough, after a mere minute of trekking around, a hangar was found. In it, a small, robot, shaped like a jet, was parked. "Does it even have a cockpit?" Amy wondered aloud. It didn't.

"No, but that doesn't matter… everyone, hop on, and hold on." Tails sat at the nose, Cosmo nearby grasped the barrel of a gun.

Tails used his watch to quickly hack into the robot's brain, and started the engines, launching the thing out of the hangar, and into air around the explosive ship.

* * *

Stephen bolted around, strangely drawn to a certain point. He knew where it was, and how to get there, but he didn't know what it was.

He was in the control room, and in a trance. A small red gem was reeling him towards itself.

"Weird… it glows…" He thought, feeling the strange vibrations getting worse.

_BOOM!_ The ripping of metal brought him to attention, and he dove forwards, grabbing the gem, and yelling something he wasn't sure of.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" He had heard this spell, but only in a horrifying nightmare. With Sarah still attached to him, he looked around.

Turning around, he saw a massive wall of flames, barely stopped in their tracks. They just barely touched Sarah's feet.

Somehow, and he wasn't quite sure how, he had slowed down time to a near standstill.

The flames were slowly gaining speed, his acute sense told him that much. Running with the gem in his right hand, and Sarah in his left, he made his way to the other side of the room, where he looked for a way out. _Where the heck am I?_ He looked down, out a window, and saw the sky drop into the clouds. _Oh dear… that's a nasty fall… where are the stairs? Am I in some building? No… _recalling a memory, he corrected himself, _I'm in a ship… an air ship… there is no way off but a plane… where is a plane?_ Stephen ran out the room, hoping to find one.

The flames followed behind him, speeding up exponentially. _C'mon! There's got to be a plane!_ Stephen ran as fast as he could, wishing Sarah could help him.

"Stephen?" Sarah mumbled, exhausted from blood loss, all caused by him.

"Sarah… we're…"

"Fire? Oh… get me out of here Stephen… please?" Sarah _hated_ fire.

"I need a plane… I don't know how else-" Stephen thought for a single moment, the fire was rapidly increasing speed behind him. Gaseous explosion could actually be seen taking place inside the inferno, pushing the fire further outwards.

Stephen look at the window again, and then looked at Sarah.

"Hang on, ok?" He begged her, jumping at the window.

"STEPHEN!" Sarah clung to him like glue.

The temporary time stop that Stephen had ushered, vanished completely, and the explosion jolted forwards, thrusting Stephen into the glass window, cracking it, and sending both him and Sarah flying into the sky.

Stephen's grip on Sarah never faded, even though he was partially knocked out.

"Stephen! Stephen! Wake up! Please!" Sarah made another 'last decision', just in case she was going to die. She kissed Stephen, just to feel him again. Stephen immediately regained consciousness, and looked at Sarah, the chaos emerald flew out of his hands.

"I love you too Sarah. I didn't know it until just now…"

"Bad… time… we're going to die." Sarah looked down at the land miles beneath them, quickly coming closer to them.

"I-…" Stephen thought for a moment. Focusing extremely hard, he felt his shoulder blades flex, and relax, like flapping wings. "I don't think we are… I love you." He kissed her one more time, and as she kissed back, the incredible magnitude of the feeling make him feel like he was going to explode.

He did, in a sense. Out of his back, two wings, spanning out longer than four times his height, sprouted and unfolded. Catching air, their descent translated into a rapid forward motion, and they began to fly.

"YOU CAN FLY!" Sarah was too excited, she passed out.

Stephen held her tightly, and experimented, diving, turning, and climbing. It wasn't too hard for him at all. With a smirk on his face, he flapped his wings, separate from his arms, and accelerated towards the house he once lived at.

* * *

**Yeah, that's about it for the climax, so, was it as good as I said it was? (probably not, but still...)**

**I have yet to call it quits... we still have a wedding to deal with, and a severed arm... and I also have some... complications for Sarah and Stephen... no one will get THAT lucky on a mirculous recovery... (I am becoming a sadist! OH NO! I'm no greater than Herr Drosselmeyer...)**

**More coming soon...**


	32. United

**I have to imagine that me whining, complaining, and groaning about my schedule has become routine for all of you... But, I'm going to do it again anyways, because I have something to tell all of you. I came REALLY close to getting a State-cut in swimming. What does this mean? Or more importantly, what does this mean to all of you? Well, now I am going to be swimming for an extra week to get into another, last chance meet on Saturday. And, IF I MAKE THAT CUT (two tenths of a second away,) I am swimming for ANOTHER week, to taper and go to the State meet. I don't REALLY want to do this, BUT I DO want the bragging rights to say "Yeah, I went to states, so take that football jocks!"**

**That aside, here's the next chapter (which is sadly, declining in value because I have only been able to think about it so much with swimming SO on my mind... my apologies.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Quasar's tantrum had the ship in flames. The mighty aircraft that once floated in the clouds, now plummeted into the ocean a mile below, ripping itself to shreds from the chaotic energies contained inside, and the intense air resistance.

"BURN! DIE!" Quasar roared as she purposely unleashed more energy, starting to flip out her weapons, all overcharged.

Her laser fingertips, once meant as a utility, now blasted through the whole wall, melting all of the walls into a molten heap of metallic fluid. Red lights spun around like a disco party from hell, which, in a sense, it was.

All of Damian's work and all of his massive projects were vaporized on impact. At the rate Quasar was going, the base wouldn't even hit the water properly.

"YOU FILTHY ROTTEN NO GOOD MAN! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE! YOU SHALL SINK IN THE OCEAN! YOU'LL ROT ON THE LAND! MAY YOU DIE!" She screamed, burning and melting everything should could while still unable to move.

* * *

"Da-am! Xavier! You're daughter's HOT STUFF! Look at her go! She's like… unstoppable!" Lance drooled from afar, being held by Xavier as he kept him and Lily and Xenophon afloat in the air.

"I know… she's a very strong girl… but she is too wild… too untamed… I fear for her. She may get herself into some trouble with the Higher Powers one day…" XT mumbled.

"Are we going to stop her?" Anna worried fretfully.

"Anna, the first step I learned in parenthood, is to let them keep crying until they realize you stop giving attention to them. She doesn't know we're looking, but she needs to calm down first… We wait for a bit."

"Understood."

* * *

"AAUUUGHHH!" Quasar howled as a final surge of energy left her circuits, pooping her out into exhaustion. She fell onto a melted bed, and sunk into it.

The bass fell down further, until it finally hit the ocean. The bright, warm red metal sizzled like oil in a pan as it hit the water. Steam was everywhere, and the metal of the bass began to harden around Quasar, cooling her off in the process.

"Unghh… I feel tired…"

* * *

"Now we go get her. C'mon James." Xavier called to the only other Rinocian robot that could fly in their group as they all fell down into the depth of the glistening waters beneath them.

Quasar heard the sawing and tearing above her on the solid mass of metal encasing her. She'd done some serious damage on the ship. The little buzzing noises became louder as she looked around the room, trying to prepare for anything.

She was in a small cavity of air within the remains of the ship. Everything there was dark and cold, and she knew it. Her eyes shone against the dark walls, illuminating them as she searched. Her eyes gazed upon a small area of ceiling, where metal filings fell down like dust. She focused on that.

The metal bulged and bent out of shape just before a head popped out of the newly made hole.

"Hey Quasar! Wanna get out of that mess? We've got room for one more…" Her father jokingly teased.

"What the hell happened to me?"

"You blew the crap out of this base! You should've seen it! YOU WERE ON FIRE! LITERALLY!" Lance cheered.

"I know that you dummy. I want to know why I did it."

"I have a theory…" XT began, "The human took your crystal, and tried to harness its energies. But, he didn't realize that you used so much, and that it naturally recharges energy if exposed to anything. He built a box that exposed it to a lot, but still drained its energy. However, it only built energy, rather than lose it. So, when we put it back in you, it overcharged you, and you had to get rid of it in a fiery demonstration." XT concluded.

"Ok… I guess…"

"C'mon honey, we need to get you home, for a good, long repair." XT picked up his daughter, and led the lot of misfits away from the wreckage, flying away as they went.

* * *

Cosmo and Tails, Sonic and Amy, Brian, Brunis and Daisy, and an unconscious Richard all balanced on the jet carefully. A single move and they'd all fall off.

"Hey Brunis," Sonic called over the roar of the wind, "where did Sarah go?"

"I found her, she was by the house… oh no…" Brunis thought worriedly.

"What?" Amy immediately responded.

"She thought you were dead… so did I… and knowing her grudging personality… well… what if she found a way to follow me?" Brunis blamed himself mentally. If something happened to Sarah, he'd hold it against himself.

"She would've fought with us on that ship." Amy answered. "But… b-but what if she never found us?"

"I'm sure she's still at home, I'm absolutely sure." Brunis said it to himself more than anyone else.

"SHE'D BE BLOWN TO BITS! GONE! BURNT INTO ASHES AND DISSOLVED IN THE OCEAN! SARAH!!!!" Amy moaned in tears.

"This is NOT the place to be doing that. Wait until we get home, it'll be in about a minute…" Tails commanded as Amy's sobbing shook the lightweight plane furiously.

"Amy, stop crying! I'm slipping!" Daisy shouted at her, but Amy just kept worrying.

Daisy's fingers started to loosen, and Brunis noted it. The worst part of all of it, they were still a mile high into the sky.

In an instant, Daisy was gone, falling into the sky. And in an instant later, Brunis jumped off with her, careful not to unbalance the plane.

"Daisy!" Brunis caught her, and pulled her close.

"What are you DOING?" Daisy looked at him with wide eyes, "YOU'LL BE KILLED!"

"Better holding you than old and lonely." Brunis humbly thought as he fell downwards with his fiancé.

As if in hysteria, Daisy began muttering the preacher's role for their wedding. "And do you, Daisy Prower, take this man to be your husband?" She mused, still falling, "I do."

"And do you, Brunis the Wolf, take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife?" Brunis smiled hopelessly, diving down, "I do."

"You may now kiss the bride."

"Didn't have to be told." Brunis lock lips with her.

* * *

"You see 'em?" James called, throwing Lily and Xenophon to XT.

"Oh yeah, guys, we have to create the net." XT told Anna, Gannon and Lance as he tossed them to James.

The group of flying robots held hands and laughed a bit, they didn't do this very often, let alone work together with the Love Doctor. A fine woven net of rainbow lightning shot across their intertwined hands and linked together. As a unit, they group accelerated forwards, Quasar hanging onto XT's back as he flew.

* * *

Daisy and Brunis closed their eyes. "I love you." They only wished it could've been a bit longer.

Suddenly, a wave of energy overcame them, and they stopped moving. They opened their eyes and looked at the glowing other. Both of them were encased in a rainbow net, and surrounding them was an eerily familiar group of goofy robots.

"Hello Daisy! Nice to meet again!" Anna smiled from the lower left of the oval. **(A/N: So no, that wasn't the wedding scene, you know me better than that, I will make it GOOD.)**

"And likewise, Brunis." James winked, accelerating with XT.

"You're ALL here? Holy crap… I need a day of rest… this is too fricking much." Daisy sighed, laying back into the soft electrical net, tingling her senses.

"Yep, and I think we need a bigger ship, Gannon?" Anna asked sweetly.

"Eru ditsu." Gannon said lamely as a crash was heard from beneath them.

An SUV sized object made of a bronze material appeared from the waves, and zoomed underneath the group of people. "Hop on and in." Gannon demanded as he entered the driver's cockpit and locked it, no one ever drove shotgun.

Anna and James helped Brunis and Daisy into the passenger's bay, and they all sat down humbly as Gannon floored it back to the remains of the Rose Residence.

* * *

Tails looked down at the silver bronze ship beneath them and a wave of relief overcame him. With a sense of relative calmness, he piloted the ship close to the ground near his house.

"Sonic, we have a problem…" Tails spoke over the engine.

"What's that?" Sonic asked inquisitively.

"I can't stop this at all, not even slow it." Tails gripped the controls tightly.

"Can we jump?"

"You can, but if I let go of this, it could crash and blow up on all of us… I'd like to arc it into the air and fly off, but I can't trust it all too well. So, can you take Cosmo, Richard, and Amy and get a running start?"

"No."

Cosmo said it.

"Cosmo, please, just listen to me, go with Sonic, it'll be safer, ok?"

"No, I'm staying on this ship until you get off. I've seen Brunis jump off for Daisy, not knowing she was going to live, I'll do the same. I'm going with you, for better or worse. That's why I married you right?"

Tails hated being outsmarted.

"Sonic, take Richard and Amy to your house, Cosmo and I will remain here."

Sonic nodded solemnly, but he knew everything would work out ok; his little brother was a genius with things like this. He grabbed his wife, who grabbed onto the perverted, male cat, and dove off the low flying aircraft, landing gracefully on his legs, running.

"Good luck Tails," he called, smiling as he ran home as Tails craft shot upwards, a controlled reaction to the change in weight.

As the ship flew upwards, he began to type into his remote wristband.

"Cosmo, get near me, we're going to jump soon…" Tails instructed as the ship began to curve back down.

Cosmo grabbed onto his legs, and Tails entered a final command into his wristband. The ship screeched midair, and began to glow a red color.

With that, Tails grabbed Cosmo very tightly, and pushed away from the flying creation as hard as he could.

Seconds later, that ship blew up.

"I love you Tails." Cosmo laughed, trying to hide her fear.

"Me too, now let's get home…" Tails sighed as he hovered the half mile to the remains of his joint house with Sonic.

* * *

"SHE'S NOT HERE!" Amy panicked, overturning cooking pots and small pieces of wood in search of her daughter.

Sonic too, was distraught. His daughter wasn't at home. But, for some reason, he thought she didn't go out to that ship. It was unlikely, and she had no way of getting there.

"Hmm… Tails, any idea as to where she went?" Sonic questioned, looking around.

"I have no idea…" Tails muttered.

The bronze ship, containing Brunis, Daisy, and THEA, landed feet away from the wreckage, and Brunis and Daisy were helped out by the somewhat humble robots.

"No quick, we're all leaving before they ask us to do anything!" Lily whispered loudly as the group piled back into their ship as fast as they could and took off.

"Wait-! Dang it!" Sonic snapped his fingers angrily. "Do YOU have any idea where Sarah went?"

"She's not here?" Brunis's eyes bulged.

"No…"

"Well, she may have seen me go into the Workshop… I used that tunnel in the living room."

Everyone looked at the hole, already partially opened.

"Oh no…" Amy squeaked inaudibly.

Tails dove into the hole swiftly, getting ahead of everyone, promising to run a scan of the base.

"A plane is missing…" He spoke with no emotion, "and a video recording shows a little blue blur rushing around the Workshop, and getting into the plane before it launched.

Amy dropped to her knees, and Sonic rushed to her side.

"She doesn't know how to fly a plane… she probably didn't even get far before she jumped out of it." Sonic tried to comfort.

"BUT SHE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO FLY A PLANE!" Amy wailed.

"It is a really easy plane to pilot-"

"SHUT UP TAILS! YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" Amy roared with tears.

It remained like that for a while.

* * *

Daisy was oblivious to it all though. Her eyes fixed of Richard. Emotions swarmed her mind, anger, fear, happiness, sympathy even, no emotion seemed not to be there.

Brunis noticed her trouble, and walked up besides her.

"Do you want me to kill him? We could make it short, painless, more than he deserves." Brunis promised.

"No."

Brunis was shocked. "No, make it slow and painful?"

"No, I don't want him to die. I do, but I don't. He should suffer for his crimes… but you shouldn't be the one to do it to him. He still deserves a trial, and at least someone to have a chance to defend him."

"But honey, he'll pay his way out."

"I don't care!" Daisy sobbed, it was a touchy subject for her. "I-I am kind of attached to him. I mean, not romantically… but to think of a world with him… dead… he's another person… and I definitely don't want to marry a murderer… even if it is justified…" Daisy curled up into fetal position, and began sobbing slightly. "I am afraid for him… and of him… because no one else will be…"

Brunis nodded softly, and picked Daisy up setting her in his lap. "Ok. We'll put him in a trial. But you know we can't win it, and he'll come back."

"But then I want to be far away from here, married to you, maybe even on the run, as I am marrying a kidnapper apparently."

"You say that, yet you're the thief. You stole my heart." He kissed her cheek lightly, and hugged her.

"Thanks Brunis… and I don't want to give it back."

"And you'll never need to."

* * *

Meanwhile, Amy and Sonic stared blankly into the dusking sky towards above the sea, where their daughter supposedly died.

"Sarah…" Amy's eyes were redder than her dress.

Sonic tried his best to comfort her as he sat down besides her. "We can make another one Amy, we're both still young. Imagine, another Sarah."

"Sonic! How can you SAY that? There won't be another Sarah, EVER. She's our child, our _first_ child. We won't have any more first children. She's Sarah, every other possible child will be another name, not Sarah."

Sonic felt ashamed, but he didn't want to be discouraged or depressed.

"Amy… I…" His head hung lower. "Why us? Why her? Why?" Sonic mumbled into the dirt.

"I don't know…" Amy broke down into tears again, Sonic hugging her as tightly as he could, depression and morbid sadness taking a hold of him. Family made the hero weaker, but stronger too.

* * *

"Sarah died because I didn't lock my ships up good enough…" Tails was quickly to blame himself, years of low self esteem never truly left his personality.

"No, Tails, anyone could've been to blame… don't get all sad, ok?" And Cosmo remained the one beam of light when everything else went dark.

"But still… she died over that ocean, and my plane was involved! How-?"

Tails looked into the horizon and saw something very strange.

Sonic and Amy looked up, the silence begging them to identify that object, rapidly increasing in size.

It was like a bird, but much bigger. It looked almost humanoid. But it was too small to be XT-421, much too small, and the wings were off-shaped, more like a bird's than a gargoyle's.

"Is'r ow!" A quiet voice was heard coming from the flying object.

"What the devil is that?" Brunis asked, glaring at it.

"Is ter Power!" The voice was a bit clearer.

And then a final time, "MR. PROWER!" It was very urgent.

"WHAT?" Tails asked back.

"I NEED HELP!!!" The voice called as the wing changed position and the figured landed.

It was Stephen.

* * *

**Now, I leave you in a cliffhanger for a bit, muahahahahaha!**

**More coming soon...**


	33. Surgery

**Ok, a note to all, I made States, and became number one in my whoel school at the 100 yard breaststroke, so, that's fricking cool. It also means I'll be swimming some more this week but then I'm done. Hopefully, I can get a lot done then...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was Stephen, and he was holding a pale Sarah.

"SARAH!" Amy screamed, "GIVE HER HERE YOU MONSTER!" She roared at Stephen, who was holding her stub of an arm tightly. Stephen had only just landed, and his wings retracted into his skin. This violent verbal attack caused his legs to melt into the ground in fear and guilt.

"Help me…" He cried; she'd been out for a terribly long time.

"Stephen, what's wrong with her arm?" Tails asked calmly.

"It's GONE." He wailed, not letting go of the edge.

"Why are you holding it so tightly?" Tails questioned again.

"I read in a book… where her veins and arteries were… and I mimicked it… I can feel her blood pumping in my hand, it is really weak…"

"She's… she's not dead?" Amy looked hopeful, but shocked.

"No ma'am." Stephen whimpered.

"Stephen, can you hold her for a bit longer? Follow me please…" Tails hurried into the workshop, still fully operational.

Stephen and Sarah jointly dove into the depths of the lab, creeping Stephen out, as he had horrible memories of this place. Quietly and quickly, Stephen was led to a stretcher where he placed Sarah.

"Now Stephen," Tails spoke to the child, "I'm going to have to have you let go of her arm, so I can see what happened, and yes, it may get bloody, ok?"

Stephen grimly nodded his head yes, and he waited until Tails told him to let go. Tails hooked up an IV to Sarah's frail body, and Stephen felt the change in blood in his own hand. He placed a mask over Sarah, pumping air and anesthetics into her, and then nodded to Stephen, who quickly turned around, waited for Tails to tell him to look again.

He didn't see it, but he heard it, which seemed even worse. The blood of his new girlfriend _pouring _onto the ground was a horrible sound to hear. The tears from his eyes added to that sound.

Tails and his machines quickly clamped a section of her hand off as Tails inspected the wound. It was a _perfect_ cut, almost as if her arm was paper, and someone cut it with scissors. _I've NEVER seen this kind of a wound before… I wonder…_ Tails looked at Stephen, shivering with his back turned.

"I think I may need to amputate more of it… it may be infected…" Tails said grimly, hanging his head low. "But she may be able to use a mechanical limb, but that's not much of an arm…"

"Mechanical limb…?" Stephen wondered aloud.

Mentally, a massive picture came together. Sarah's being came into his mind, her forearm cut off at the midpoint, and he focused in on that. A mechanical arm, conventionally, would connect to only a few of her nerves, the most obvious ones, but he knew better, he felt them when his arm was attached to hers.

"Stop." Stephen said before Tails could do anything, Sarah's dying arm clamped shut from bleeding still.

"Stephen? What?"

"Can you… use… my tissue to create… another set of nerves? And… then… attach them as if they were her own?"

"I don't know how to do that…"

"Can you make a metal cast of a forearm?!" Stephen pleaded.

"I have many Stephen, I just don't see the use in…" Tails showed him an array of arms.

"Don't do ANYTHING to her!" Stephen ran off with one of the mechanical limb, and went off to another little station where he went berserk with tinkering. **(A/N: If you haven't guessed, Stephen is absorbing knowledge like a sponge, getting smarter and smarter every second. Do realize that there is a point when you can be too... inquisitive for your own good... I've been there before actually...)**

For about ten minutes, he worked. He tested the arm, firing small electrical bursts into it from a probe he attached to a wall. And once he was satisfied, he opened it up; the shell hadn't yet been placed on it, so the metal plates shifted aside easily. He then began to pull out the wiring, and then, clenched his teeth as he created another limb, and chopped it off with a surgical knife. His tears weren't of pain, yet. They would be if he failed.

Surely enough, he healed rapidly, and nothing looked even scarred, so, he continued with his work. Taking his extra limb's strangely flexible nerves, he fitted them into the arm matching all of the nerves he knew existed in her arm. Linking them at the end into five specific groups, each mentally labeled Ulnar, two Median, and two Radial nerves. These would be matched perfectly to what she lost. **(A/N: I think I'm right with those nerves... I checked me mum's anatomy book for them...)**

He hooked his own nerves up to the knobs he'd ripped the cables from, and ran the electrical current through them, just to make sure they worked slightly. When the fingers individually twitched and began shaking as he moved the current around, he was very pleased.

He ran back to Tails, and butted him out of the way as he started to hooked the arm up to Sarah.

"Help me! PLEASE!"

"Settle down Stephen, I'll bolt it to her arm, but know that it probably won't work. Thousands of scientists have tried to replicate limbs perfectly, and no one has yet."

Stephen glared at him as he attached a metal fixture to Sarah's arm to which the metal arm was to be mounted.

"Make sure her nerves can be accessed."

"Stephen, I don't think it will matter."

"Do it." Stephen's voice echoed demonically, similar to how he was when he tried to kill everyone.

"Fine, fine." Tails accepted the fact that she was probably going to lose her arm anyways.

Stephen's hands turned into long, sinuous prongs of puny size. He closed his eyes and stuck them into the gap between the arm and Sarah's nerves. Bringing in a few small tubes of rubber, he did his best to attach them to the nerves that they were supposed to hook up to. Tickling his own nerves into stimulation, he felt them wiggle closer to Sarah's, and engulf them.

Then, he pulled the clamp, and then the blood flow continued, all under Tails' supervision.

"Not bad, you did that procedure well, who taught you?"

"Those books…" Stephen sighed. "I hope she's ok…" The mechanical fixture between her new forearm and her original skin turned the blood around.

With any luck, the skin lost would solidify around the tubes that Stephen put in her, around her nerves, and if that worked, so should her arm.

But only time could tell.

And Stephen was ready to wait in that small operating room in the dimly lit Workshop they all called home.

* * *

Julie smiled as the ship whirred into view above XT's small cottage. His books were here too, but, of course, they were the same. Infinite in amount, but she'd practically read them all, and loved them, and loved even more that they were all real.

She stood outside in her flowing blue dress and looked to the sky as XT, Xenophon, James and Anna hopped out of their ship.

"JULIE! WH-WHAT THE HELL?!" XT rushed to her, leaving her loopy daughter in James's hands.

"I snuck a ride with Anna, and she brought me to you." Julie smiled at her slyness.

"But You Could Have Been Hurt!" XT enunciated everything, making sure she got the message.

"But I'm not. Listen, do you know how horrible I feel when you're gone? I know you're practically invincible, but you have a LOT of people who don't like you who you KNOW as much as I KNOW are stronger than you. What if YOU get hurt? What the hell would I do?"

"Technically, I can't get hurt, I can't feel anything."

"That's a lie and you know it, you feel love towards me, and that is more human than any of the other people I've met."

XT shut up. He knew better than to argue with Julie when she was mad or distressed. Instead he hugged her, just tight enough to the point where she felt squeezed, it would've been tight if he were a human.

"I'm glad you're here anyways, maybe… well we'll see. First, I have to tend to my daughter…"

"Quasar, right?" Julie asked sweetly.

"Yes… now, if you'll excuse me for the moment… Anna! James! Xeno! Hurry up!" The trio called brought the little robot girl into the house, and lay her onto the table.

Shortly after, the rest of the gang piled into the house, standing over their little niece, making sure she was ok.

Pieces of metal flew about the room, some levitating, some being handed at a blurring speed, all headed to and from Quasar. XT was reinforcing her structure and giving her a better, more authentic shape.

"Hey guys?" XT questioned as he worked on his daughter.

"Yeah?" Anna responded for the group.

"Do you remember when we joined our powers to get her crystal back into her?"

"Yes, why?" James wondered aloud.

"Could we all do something similar to that to give her an extra heart? Like, take a small fragment of our own crystals and funnel it into her?"

"We can try… but the result may be pretty explosive…" Lance smiled.

"JULIE!" XT called worriedly.

"What honey?" A voice answered from the other room.

"Get as far away from the house NOW!" XT demanded, not leaving room for argue.

A scuffling of feet marked the exodus of the fragile girl at risk, and then XT continued.

"Everyone, let's focus, and try this. Get a bit of your heart, not much, just a small sliver, that'd be enough, and then place it in the middle of…"

The group formed a circle around the sluggish robot in the center in the room. "This circle." XT finished.

The robots reached in unison into their chests and, after a twinge, a small gleaming sliver appeared in all of their hands. They raised them into the middle and then relaxed. Eyes closed, and fait humming from their cores subconsciously emanated.

* * *

A glow came from within the house, flashing in bright colors. Julie watched grumpily as the light around the house distorted. Like being too hot, the colors and shapes wavered, but then they began to warp in ways comparable to a black hole. Julie's eyes searched for the house in the black mist now swirling around the house her boyfriend was in, and felt her hair float up and point to the black ball of a house.

Moments later, seven bolts of light, all different colors, shot out of the lightless area, and began to spin rapidly. They were all fine lines, but they were moving so fast around the middle of the circle, right at Julie's waist, that they appeared to be disks rotating around the black circle.

Suddenly, the beams of light curved upwards from their speedy rotations and became a single, golden beam above the black hole lookalike.

"A quasar…" Julie mused, a single beam of energy flowing upwards from a black hole.

Julie squinted her eyes at the blinding light from above. Though her eyes were glued shut, she swore she saw a golden figure drop down in the light, and then vanish moments later.

The black mist subsided with the exodus of that figure, and Julie felt it was safe to go inside. A final ball of light exploded harmlessly from the house, temporarily blinding her approach as she came to view her possible stepdaughter.

* * *

"That ought to do it Quasar…" XT announced triumphantly as he stepped away from the table his daughter was being worked at.

Quasar didn't move, she just opened her eyes, dazed and confused. Her body was sleeker than before, with more hues of red and silver to it. Her figure was more similar to an adult's than a child's, but she maintained her relative puniness. She looked much more human than before. Her hat, even, had been modified slightly to look more authentic, and now small strands of what seemed to be hair came from the nonexistent gap between her head and her 'hat'.

"What the heck happened now?" She groaned, trying to get up.

"Don't move, the metal will take some time to cool, and we don't have the right things do to that with here." James cautioned, having watched the procedure.

"So I don't get to walk around? Or go anywhere?" She grumbled.

"No."

"I hate my life."

Everyone chuckled, "technically, you never had one." Her father reminded her. "Hey James, could you make her a chair she could control and move around without walking or exerting strain on her frame?" XT asked kindly.

"Sure, it'll take a bit though…" James mumbled as he walked into another room, tinkering away as he always loved to do.

Julie stepped into the hosue, shocked to see that everything was as she remembered it.

"Hey Jules, thanks for getting out of here, I wasn't sure what was going to happen…"

"What did happen?" Julie interrupted, "There was a- it looked like a black hole sucked up the house!"

All of the team looked at Julie like she spoke a language they didn't understand.

"What now? Nothing happened, it got brighter, that was all."

"And the figure?" Her next question made Lily perkier, along with the other robots.

"Figure? Golden? CELESTE?" Lily screamed, running over to Julie to interrogate.

"It was golden I thought!"

"Dang it… we missed her again…" Lance grunted, annoyed as usual, pulling Lily off of Julie.

Julie stood up and walked closer to Quasar, staring at her complexity with probing eyes. She tried to imagine what she was like, and see the resemblance between her boyfriend and this girl in front of her. Green eyes, and a heart as a crest above her head reminded her easily of the robot she'd spent so many nights and days with.

"Who are you?" Quasar asked finally, and slightly edged.

The robot shifted, as if she actually uncomfortable, just barely. Julie stared again. Her voice was not at all similar, it was high pitched, and almost annoying. It even sounded sassy, which wasn't XT's normal choice of tone.

"My name is Julie. I'm your dad's girlfriend." Julie watched Quasar stare _her_ down now.

"But…" Quasar said hesitantly, "He's a robot, and you're…" she looked at Julie with a hint of disgust.

"What?" Julie asked, offended.

"A living creature. You're not a robot."

"Now now Q, no need to get hostile." XT reprimanded placing an arm over Julie's shoulder, the two coming together perfectly.

Quasar's mind was filled with anger. _What's so special about her? Why does her treat HER like a princess but yell at me? I'm related! I'm his DAUGHTER! I should be hugged! NOT THAT MEAT BAG! What's so special about her that he likes more than me? He's never talked about her before…_

Julie flinched, and Quasar felt something different with the air. A few eyes of her father's platoon looked down at her, scolding her with her eyes. XT picked Julie up just before her knees buckled, and he walked out of the room with Julie curling into what Quasar knew, from her limited knowledge of humans, fetal position.

"What'd I do?" She groaned the moment her father was far enough away from the group.

Julie was already crying a bit. "What did I do?"

"You took me from her." XT mused.

"I wish that-" XT put a finger over her lips, silencing her.

"Don't say anything you'll regret later," the metal face winked at her as he did his best to give her a kiss. "Anything I can do to distract you?"

"Yeah, for starters, where the heck are we?"

"Mobius! That reminds me! I want to show you off to my clients!" XT cheered as he jumped off into the air with his girlfriend clinging to him tightly.

* * *

**So yeah, I don't have much to say, other than I am still debating what to do with Stephen and the disorder I'm going to give him... I don't know how to properly introduce it... Ah well, I'll think of something, won't I?**

**More coming soon...**


	34. Reaction

**Wow it's been a long time... Sorry everyone, my internet's been down, and thanks to my fricking amazing father (who's more a sci-fi geek than I am probably, and also knows much more about this crazy technology,) and his ability to fix computer problems. (I had too much stuff on my computer... too many unneeded programs, and not enough needed ones... I don't know, that's how he summed it up for me.)**

**And I'd like to kind of throw in a special thank you to SM11, Jordan, for pestering my lazy ass back into action on this story. So, I'll send you all this as a gift, an extra long chapter. However... this one will have a bit more swearing, and have a few... more suggestive themes, so this particular chapter is much closer to M for a few reasons... (It isn't as bad as Richard and Daisy, but still... it is a bit... suggestive.**

**I just figured I'd caution you all. Some people may get mad, so, better safe than sorry.**

**And without further ado (and much needed reintroductory,)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Sarah groaned as she felt herself begin to regain consciousness. Her eyes were glued shut from something, and something felt like it was sticking into her left arm.

"Unnghhhh…" She tried to open her eyes.

"Sarah?" An eager Stephen asked softly from her side, hovering over her limp body slightly.

Sarah's eyes remained closed as she tightened her grip on her left hand as tight as she could, but she hardly felt anything.

"Why can't I see…?"

"You just came out of surgery. Mr. Prower and I helped the blood loss from your arm."

"Blood loss? Di-did all of that really happen?" Sarah remembered a crazed Stephen slice through her arm like butter and shivered.

"I-I'm so sorry! I could stop it! I was watching myself do all of those horrible things! I didn't want to hurt your parents, I didn't want to capture you, and I didn't want to… kill you or slice your arm off! I know, I'm a horrible, horrible person, but I just wanted to make sure you're ok before I leave here. No one wants to be with me here, I'm a monster…" Stephen let go of Sarah's hand and tried to walk away, but Sarah's grip help him in place.

"Stephen, relax, ok? I don't care if you're a monster, maybe it would make a nicer boyfriend, I don't know. Nor do I care. Please, understand this, if you go, I'm going to follow you."

Stephen looked at her, searching her face for confirmation of this bold deed. It was written all over her partially blinded face.

"_Do_ you love me, really?"

"As much as I know." Sarah answered solidly.

"I-I love you too." Stephen shyly agreed his face turning pink.

"At least I have you… all else may be gone… mom… dad… but… I've got one friend to take care of me."

"Mr. and Mrs. Rose? Dead? What!? When did this happen?!" Stephen began panicking worriedly. **(A/N: I almost forgot that fact too, lol.)**

"Stephen," Sarah started crying, "they when the house collapsed."

"But, wait, when?"

"After the house collapsed, a few hours ago." Sarah answered through her tears.

"Oh! HA! Sarah, they're still alive! They're up above this Workshop."

"How do you know?"

"They yelled at me when I flew you here, calling… me a… monster…" Stephen's voice experienced a decrescendo.

"THEY'RE ALIVE! OH STEPHEN!" Sarah pulled Stephen on top of her and kissed him, trying to move her hands the best she could to position him. As usual, he was as light as a feather.

"You have to take me to them!" She demanded, trying to open her eyes, this time, succeeding.

Sarah viewed her grey knight with pure delight. He was exactly as she remembered before she went unconscious. She hugged her tightly with her newfound eyesight, kissing him to her heart's content. But, her hands touched together on the other side.

Her hand_**s**_, in the plural form, touched.

Sarah's eyes grew in size as she pulled her hands apart, and pulled her arm from behind Stephen slowly into her own view, similar only to a horror movie that she wasn't yet allowed to watch.

A metal, clawed hand existed in place of her old, warm one.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHH!!!!!!" She screamed, hopping off the bed and running as fast as she could, away from everything.

Her hand however, followed her.

* * *

Sonic and Amy rushed to the scene, followed shortly by the Prower's, worried that Stephen went on another murderous rampage. They came to the scene to see Stephen froze in place above Sarah's stretcher, paralyzed with fear.

"What happened Stephen! TELL ME!" Amy Rose demanded, burning a hole through the experiment with her glare.

"GET IT OFF ME!!! GET IT OFF ME!!!" Sarah screamed as she whipped up a whirlwind as she ran.

"I got her…" Sonic declared preemptively, rushing after her.

Seconds later, he was back with a wailing Sarah in his arms, still in her white surgical gown placed upon her by Tails prior to surgery.

"Daddy, get it off, please get it off…"

"Get what off- OH MY GOSH!" Sonic's eyes bulged at the metal extremity on his daughter's arm.

Everyone stared at it, for no one knew. Tails had kept it secret, and no one had seen Stephen due to his careful watching of his beloved Sarah.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO HER ARM?"

"IT'S BEEN ROBOTICIZED!" Sonic screamed, still holding Sarah. **(A/N: If I spelled that wrong, can someone help me get it right?)**

Sarah's tears only flowed faster in greater number; everyone talking about her arm provoked her crying.

Brunis, Brian, and Daisy were all very quiet, not trying to offend the already upset Sarah. Amy and Sonic, obviously angered and worried, began blaming Stephen for her arm.

"YOU put it on her didn't you?!" Amy roared, glaring.

"Actually, Amy, I did. Stephen helped by trying to make it work more… fluently. But we have yet to see if it truly did anything. We didn't want Sarah to be armless, and thus, we reattached a mechanical limb."

Sarah clenched her fists, _both _fists, and started shaking her head violently.

"I DON'T WANT A METAL HAND!!" Sarah hopped out of Sonic's arms, and ran off.

"Sarah!" Stephen cried out, and gave chase to her.

Amy snarled at Stephen getting closer to her daughter, and began to charge him, but a hand grabbed her and restrained her violet action.

"Let them handle this, I think he'd do a better job. I really think he's a good kid now." Sonic's voice was as smooth and calm as he could make it, cool too, which wooed Amy into a pause, allowing Sonic to keep her pinned.

* * *

Sarah looked at her arm in unending horror. She watched as she successfully moved her own fingers, now claws, and made them into a fist. Tears broke upon her new hand, and she punched a metal wall with a huge amount of force, denting it tremendously.

Sarah looked at the arm again, awed and petrified of the power it possessed.

"Sarah!" Stephen sobbed, running over to her in her dark corner, concealed by machinery.

"What? How could you even care for a monstrosity like this?" Sarah held up her metal claw.

Stephen put the arm down and kissed her, pinning her down as he did so. Arm to arm, leg to leg, he wrapped around her limps and kept her there, white robe still on.

"I made the arm from Tails' supply, but it works because of my own nerves." Sarah looked at her arm again, shocked, "I cut off a part of my own arm, but mine grew back, and I used the nerves inside of it to make your arm work right."

Sarah was silent for a long time, not even bothering to get Stephen off.

"So… there's a bit of you in this arm?"

"I tinkered the thing to life, yes."

"Then I'll keep it." She said conclusively with a hint of sarcasm.

"You're not mad?"

"I'm mad, very mad. Now, we're going to tell my parents why my arm is gone." Sarah added, feeling Stephen cringe around her.

She was angry, and full of spite. And Stephen, just happened to be an easy object to take out her aggravation out on.

The moment Stephen flinched, Sarah grabbed his hand and began walking towards her parents by the stretcher, passing through the wide, dimly lit corridors that made up the Workshop.

"Hey Sarah," Sonic said coolly to his daughter as she walked up, exponentially calmer.

"Hey dad." Saran took this chance to share her fear with her parents after a great embrace. "I thought you guys were dead… that's why I went up there…"

"So wait, you DID go to that airship?" Sonic scolded.

"And THAT'S where you got your arm chopped off?" Amy's eyes glowed with red embers.

"Yes, Stephen-" Sarah's voice was angry as she turned to face the hedgehog lookalike that defaced her image.

He looked peaceful to her, very calm, very sad, even emotionally disturbed. He had said he was sorry. He meant it. He wanted to leave, but she wouldn't let him. If she told her parents, they'd make him leave.

"Yes?" Amy was eager to hear the Stephen went berserk and sliced her arm off, as much as it hurt her daughter.

"Stephen came out of nowhere and…" She felt his grip tighten around her good hand. "Went crazy by destroying this robot with swords that had had me cornered, and it had sliced my arm off. Stephen beat it to bits, and… well… he must've picked me up after fainted, because then I don't remember much more."

"What?" Was everyone's response, including Stephen's.

"If he hadn't have been there… I'd probably… well… have more than just my arm sliced off." Sarah grabbed her neck gingerly.

"Thank you…" Sonic mumbled at the most inaudible tone, yet loud enough for almost everyone to hear.

"Stephen, did you really do that?" Tails asked, slightly skeptical.

"I-uh-I don't…"

"He did. I saw it. I know he did." Sarah answered for him.

Tails nodded, very pleased with the response.

"That was… very sweet of you Stephen." Cosmo said slowly, interpreting his confused expression.

"I didn't… it wasn't… like that…" Stephen stuttered, too shocked.

"He's being modest." Sarah reassured everyone, using one of her vocabulary words from school.

"Well Stephen, I guess I was wrong about you…" Amy admitted, still shocked.

Tails gave Sonic a nudge on the shoulder, and then nodded upwards at the sky.

"Oh my, it's getting late. You two ought to get to bed." Sonic exclaimed over-enthusiastically.

"Yes it is! Brian, off to bed with you. Cosmo and I can escort you to your rooms." Tails added as he and Cosmo led the little ones into the Workshop, having nowhere else to sleep.

* * *

Brunis and Daisy stared into the setting sun in front of the tree house, the warm rays of light giving one last effort to make their loving faces glow before setting. The grass was cool and inviting, and they both felt no need to get to bed right then.

"So… are we still having that wedding? Or is it going to be canceled? I mean, it was scheduled for today…" Daisy's voice was dry and tired.

"It will probably have to be rescheduled for a bit later. We still have to decide Richard's fate, and then find a place to… I don't know…"

"Settle down at?"

"That's a nice way of putting it." Brunis's arms wrapped around Daisy's waist as she sat on his lap.

"Brunis." Daisy was flat and honest.

"Yes?"

"What do you think about us having a kid?"

Brunis's hands tensed up around her waist, and he exhaled brokenly.

"I don't know… Tails told me that it is rare for a seedrian to become pregnant with a mammalian child. And he also told me that it was the worst, and most painful experience Cosmo had ever had."

"Brunis… but I_ want _to bear your child. I'd do anything for you and you know it." She pleaded.

"I- I don't know." Brunis's sigh elongated. "Ask your parents, it is up to them."

"Ok. But you know they'll say yes."

"Not until we're married, at the least, ok?" Brunis demanded placidly.

"Fine…" Daisy agreed, snuggling up to Brunis's warmth.

* * *

Sarah and Stephen sat on the bed as Cosmo waved to them goodnight. **(A/N: Remember that M part? It is coming up soon. It is... cute though... kind of innocent, lol. And no, there is not Hot Love scenes, sorry to all of you pervs reading my story, I don't post them in T stories, and I DEFINITELY won't do it until I feel I am ready for that.)**

Both sat there, waiting for the other to speak.

Moments went by, but no noise was uttered. Not until Stephen decided to open his mouth.

"Sarah I-"

"Shut up." She closed bitterly as she lay down on her back, her hands folded together on her chest.

Stephen did as he was told and laid himself besides her on his back, the most unromantic way to end the day.

Then suddenly, she sat up and glared at him.

"I HATE this." Her teeth were jammed shut as the words hissed through her mouth. She tapped her fingers on her metal limb, making an echoing sound that haunted Stephen's ears.

Stephen's face distorted so that he could hide any tears he may have made.

"And YOU are to blame for it, no one else." The fingers on the hand arranged to point at him sharply. Sarah reached her metal hand up and held it above his head as if to strike him. Her arm shook as he cowered beneath her.

And then her hand gently came to his face, wiping away his tears.

"But I love this more." She said, tears in her eyes as she stroked his face gently with her metallic arm.

"You don't hate me?"

"I hate what you did, but that's not you. I love you more than I hate your actions. It makes me feel…"

"Cheap?"

"No… pathetic." Sarah sighed, falling into Stephen crying.

"Sarah… it's ok, right?"

"No, not really." Sarah sobbed in the darkness, surrounded by Stephen. "My arm won't ever exist again. Only this metal thing."

"But it works… and it is stronger than your old one."

Sarah sighed, Stephen _did_ build it after all. And there _was_ a bit of him inside it. Maybe it wasn't so bad.

"Here, let me take it off for you."

"Off?" Sarah's face went pale.

Stephen's hands reached around the small metal disk that connected her real arm to her metal one, and felt him pull a few cords, making her hand twitch. Then, all of a sudden, any feeling in her hand went numb, and it felt like her arm was trapped incapable of moving.

"Ok, then, all we have to do is pull it off." Stephen half grinned as he slid Sarah's arm off.

"Oh…" Sarah put both hands to her stomach, but only one reached it, "that is so wrong…"

"Hey, it isn't that bad, besides, I… still… love you… like I first met you!" Stephen jittered as he spoke it, still new to the iconic phrase. As he placed Sarah's mechanics on the table besides then, Sarah's arm wrapped around Stephen, pulling him in close.

"Hey, why am I wearing this gown?"

"I don't know… Tails put it on you."

Sarah blushed. "Say, do you mind if I take it off? I mean… I think it is ok if you see me…"

Stephen's face turned hot pink as he got off of Sarah and hopped to the other half of the bed. Sarah looked at Stephen once, and her mind rushed nervously. She wasn't sure if it was right or wrong, or how he'd react. She only knew that her mom told her that girls shouldn't show the parts of themselves under their underwear because it was just wrong. She'd never let anyone see her before, so she was very unsure of herself.

Slowly, she lifted the shirt off with one hand, and cast it away, leaving her fur exposed for him to see. A small bra and panties, both a faded crimson, adorned her upper chest and nether regions. Stephen's face had successfully become redder than the crimson before him.

"Do I look bad?" Sarah shied away from Stephen's hooked stare.

"No-no! You look… great… uh… ooh… why does your chest pop out a bit like that?"

"I don't know… my mom has it too… maybe it runs in the family?" **(A/N: Kid logic is so cute sometimes. I know this is how I used to think actually, lol.)**

"But Cosmo had it too… I remember… and Daisy, and that nurse at school… but… no guys…"

"Moms use it to feed babies." Sarah reminded him as she sat beside him on her knees.

"So, there is milk that comes from them?"

"I don't know exactly. I haven't seen any come out… maybe I don't work right."

"Nonsense! We just haven't thought of it yet. Why wouldn't milk come out of them?"

"Well… babies have to suck on them to get the milk out…" Sarah said thoughtfully.

"So… in order to see if they are working right, we'd have to suck on them?"

"I guess… but that would be really embarrassing…" Sarah trailed off.

"Do you want to try it?" Stephen had no idea how wrong he was. No books he had read explained to him that hormones triggered the enlargement of the breasts in a female, and caused them to swell with milk during a child's infancy stage. Needless to say, he still was determined to make Sarah feel like she wasn't flawed.

"Um…" Sarah looked at the door, then at Stephen. "Ok." She finally agreed.

Stephen walked on his knees to her and then kissed her gently and quickly. Then, he looked at the two bulges on skin underneath the red fabric and reached for them carefully. He stopped suddenly.

"This feels very awkward. Am I allowed to… touch them?"

"Yeah… I think so. You're about to try to get milk from them with your lips so, why not?" Sarah giggled slightly.

Stephen chuckled with her, and then reached for the string on her shoulder than held the cloth in place. Sliding it off her shoulder, her breast was exposed, and Sarah shivered at the change in temperature. Stephen watched intently as the single exposed nipple hardened.

"Ok then…" He thought and spoke as he moved in, lips puckered.

Gently sucking, no milk came, but Sarah's hand around his head, her eyes widened with delighted surprise, prevented him from stopping. A small moan, and she fell backwards on the bed, making sure Stephen came with her.

* * *

XT, THEA, and Julie had arrived inside the Workshop through the main cannon a few moments ago, and now, illegally on property that didn't exist, they ventured out to find the people above.

"C'mon Julie, the kids are the best kinds of people here. So innocent, so sweet, it's like they come from an anime show or something!"

"Ok! Ok!" Julie cooed excitedly as XT jogged briskly through the halls with her hand in his.

In minutes they made their way to the bedroom quarter, just as Sonic and Amy came down to check on their kid and their kid's best friend.

"Hey XT, who's the human?" Sonic asked coolly, as always.

"IT TALKED!" Julie had only been in a different dimension once before, and there she saw an alien creature that looked shockingly similar to humans, but never before had she seen an anthropomorphic animal.

"Yeah, they do that here hon." XT kissed her scared lips and then formally introduced her. "This is Julie Elizabeth Bell, my girlfriend and only human friend. She is the reason I care for so many people, the thing that taught me how to care."

It was good enough for Sonic, "Hi there! The name's Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm the fastest thing on two feet." Sonic glared at XT, "from this dimension." He corrected himself, XT had proven him wrong a few times with his extra dimensional travel.

"Hello there. I've, never seen a talking, walking hedgehog before."

"Earth right? I've been there, nice place." Sonic chuckled.

"Different earth." XT whispered in her ear, soothing her confusion.

Amy went on, ignoring the human girl, to check on her kid.

* * *

Sarah moaned delightedly, loud enough to drown out the other noises from outside. Immense euphoria overcame her small, partially crippled body, as Stephen did everything he could from to nibbling, to sucking, to licking to get milk out of her breasts. But, long past had that been the reason she was holding him there. It felt amazing. Every little nudge of his tongue and or lips over either nipple would make her body twist and shutter, and she loved it. With Stephen's body over hers, she felt strange desires towards him that she'd never felt with anyone before. Her hand locked around what synthetic hair he had, and she moaned lightly.

"Don't stop Stephen… It feels…" She wanted desperately to find a way to return the favor, but she knew he didn't have breasts like she did, and if he did, they probably wouldn't work the same way.

Stephen's mind wondered why she was being so aggressive with him, but he didn't mind. Sarah moaning like this made him feel strangely weird, but he liked it. And the way she squirmed and jolted, and seemed to love it, made him continue. He was doing something to repent for his crime against her.

Then the door opened.

And then the screaming and unintelligible roaring and yelling began.

"SARAHWHATTHEHELLDOYOUTHINKYOUAREDOINGWITHSTEPHENLIKETHATWITHOUTYOURBRAONAND! SONIC! OURDAUGHTERISDOINGSOMETHINGHORRIBLE! HELPME!" Amazingly, Amy swore it all with one breath.

Sonic darted in, and gasped right before fainting, and XT and Julie followed shortly after.

Sarah and Stephen froze in place, both beaming redder than Sarah's brassiere that was hanging off of her chest. They didn't know what to do.

"I'm sorry…" Sarah squeaked.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING!?! YOU'RE TOO YOUNG! WAY TOO YOUNG TO BE THINKING ABOUT SEX!!! I DIDN"T EVEN TEACH YOU?! WHAT THE F---?" Sarah had never seen her mom so angry, and the new influx of words shocked her. The 'F' one and sex really messed her up.

"XT, didn't you just get done telling me how innocent they were?" Julie giggled, causing a glare from Amy.

In seconds, after one blink from Julie, Amy had a massive hammer in her hands, and was being stopped by XT before she could smash Julie into the ground and into a pulp.

"Mom… Stephen and I were wondering why I didn't make milk like other girls. We thought that… that since babies suck on their mom's boobs, that, well, if Stephen did that to me, that I would make milk too. But no milk came… I'm messed up… aren't I?" Sarah's eyes filled with water again.

XT tilted his head sideways, and his eyes opened towards the kids with much intrigue. This was interesting, to him.

"Oh honey…" Amy's hammer dropped and vanished, "you're not messed up. But next time, come to me with these questions, not Stephen."

"But why can't I make milk then? Can't other girls do it?"

"Yes, but not until they get bigger like me. You will too, one day. Just… don't EVER do that again, ok? It is wrong… and you shouldn't be doing that."

"Ok mommy." Sarah slumped back down into the bad, her bra off still.

"Stephen, come here, we're moving you." Amy demanded calmly.

"NO!" Sarah tightened her hand around Stephen, any part she could grab, and pulled him tightly to her.

"Sarah, Stephen shouldn't be in the same room as you, especially if you're doing that. Now c'mon Stephen, we're moving you to another room."

"But Mrs. Rose… I like it here…" Stephen complained.

"Yeah mom, I want him here."

"No."

"But I love him!" Sarah meant it as she pulled Stephen even tighter and started crying.

This struck a strange cord with Amy, but an all-too-familiar one with XT. "Let them stay," XT urged quietly in her ear. "They're just kids. Besides… you've frightened them. We'll tell Sonic in the morning."

"Ok…" Amy cooled down, just enough to think 'correctly'. "Ok you kids, just, don't do anything like that. If I catch EITHER of you doing that again, you will NEVER be in the same room together alone, you hear me?"

"Yes mom."

"Yes Mrs. Rose."

They came at the same time.

XT led Amy, and a dazed Sonic, out of the room and into their own. Julie tagged along with them, hoping to see more crazy anthropomorphic creatures.

"What happened?" Stephen asked.

"No milk came." Sarah blushed, her bra placed back on, but loosely.

"No, I know that, I would've tasted it. Why were you… moaning?"

"I-uh… it felt…" Sarah sighed. "It felt wonderful Stephen. I felt so happy, so free… so… energetic… so… I don't know. I want to show you what it was like, but I don't think that trying to get milk out of you would feel very good on you." Stephen held his chest tightly, grimacing at the thought of him feeding children through his nipples.

"I'm not doing anything special to that arm, by the way." Sarah said, pointing to it on the counter. "I'm going to keep it as it is."

"Why? Why wouldn't you hide it?"

"Because then, you are reminded of it. So you can remember what you did."

Stephen looked sad as he whimpered at her.

"I want you to know why you're staying here."

"Because you love me?"

"That, and because you loving me is the thing you'll have to do to make up for it. You're going to be my slave until you die, especially for getting you out of that mess with my arm from my parents. If they knew that, you'd really be gone."

"Thanks… I guess I'll have to love you then?" Stephen looked at her from one eye.

"Yes. It is an order from your Queen." Sarah picked her nose up, stating royalty over him.

"Of course, you're highness." Stephen playfully kissed her as she fell back down on the bed, and cuddled next to him.

"I love you Stephen, my little slave." His arms started to wrap around her, and tied her three times to his chest, making them spoon to Sarah's delight.

"Hey Sarah… does… is this ok?" Stephen had practically encased her with his body, wrapped around her every fold very gently.

"Yes, you tickle me horribly though."

"Ok, I can deal with that. I love you… too Sarah." Stephen sighed as they both fell asleep atop one another.

* * *

**Ok, that's about it... I am still writing, but it is getting a bit harder... All I need are about two more big events...**

**More coming soon...**


	35. Potentially a Problem

**Let it be known to all of you that I do not tolerate any form of flaming whatsoever. If you wish to give a word of advice to better my writing (AKA "Contructive Criticism") please tell me what to do to improve, rather than only tell me what I am doing wrong. A select few of you have truly impeded on my morale, and it is highly possible that after I update this moderately lengthed chapter that this entire story will be place under hiatus, and I will refuse to write for a while. As I said, due to a few of you, and hopefully you know who you are and feel as bad as I do rather than smug, about making me have to place this common, and widely accepted policy onto the front of my newest addition to this story.**

**BEcause of those select few, I am no longer allowing anonymus reviews. If you truly wish to send a review to this story, use an account, don't be lazy, and don't be afraid of getting an account, as it is perfectly free, as far as I know.**

**Now, with that out of the way.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

_Kill the Rose Family… Kill the Rose Family…_

Sarah was underneath him, inside him. Sarah was his prey. She was the sole thing in this world that could exist with him. She had to be eliminated. He slowly uncoiled himself from her easy-to-break body, and glared at her.

"Kill the rose family…" He muttered. His arms began turning into sword like whips, hardening, and preparing for the final blow.

They made an X over her neck, ready to snip it in half like scissors.

"DIE SARAH!" He breathed loudly, pulling the arms together.

Then his eyes opened.

"Oh my gosh!" Stephen gasped.

Though, he wasn't gasping because of the dream, he was gasping because he was kneeling over Sarah with his bladed arms millimeters away from decapitating her, stopped dead in their tracks.

"No…"

Stephen kissed Sarah's lips, reawakening him immediately. He sat by her side, too frightened to sleep.

"I'm a monster…" he moaned, hopping out of Sarah's bed, and wedging his way under and out of the door to do something to distract himself.

* * *

He found everyone else, talking quietly in the little living room Tails had erected over the few days that they had moved in. Stephen stayed out of sight, in fear of being interrogated.

It couldn't have been more than an hour after midnight, and no one seemed to be tiring quite yet. Strange robots stood at attention, XT being one of them, and Ms. Q being the only one belted down to a floating table, prevented from moving at all. Brunis and Daisy sat together on a single chair, but Mr. and Mrs. Rose, and Mr. and Mrs. Prower sat on a couch, facing away from Stephen. One other person, knocked unconscious, was in a heap underneath another robot that looked like a green version of XT.

They were talking about two things, a boy named Richard, and the wedding.

"Mom, we're not going to kill him, or hurt him. That would make us just as bad as he is. He deserves a trial, at the very least."

The robots, except Quasar, nodded their heads in unison. They all looked at Daisy with a set of curious stares. _I think a bit of that oxytocin got to her head._ They all appeared to be thinking similar thoughts.

"Ok," they all said in perfect synchronization, forming a sort of a chorus.

"Daisy," her mother began to reason, holding her hand out as if to visually describe her mental processes. Her hand recoiled.

"Sadly, I know exactly what you mean Daisy…" Tails sighed, wishing he could hurt Richard, but fearing for his family.

They all knew the predicament. And what was worse was that Richard knew they knew; it was how he got away with it. If they were to strike Richard, hurt Richard, speak roughly to Richard, he could sue them for everything they had. He could fabricate a story like a spider wove a web, and that story would make him look like a beautiful angel to the world outside, and make the real victims look like horrible, despicable people whom deserved to rot in a prison for the rest of their days. And, what was worse, he would be believed as if he were a religious prophet.

Even having him in their house, captured was a huge risk. And they knew this too.

Daisy, being the selfless person she was, was still overly tempted to just let him take her, just to save her family, but she knew it wouldn't be fair on Brunis, who was her family. And, by now, she had come to realize that Richard would not only abuse her until she was a broken slave, but that he would also probably go back on any promise he'd make to exact revenge on her family, thwarting all attempted to appease him.

At Daisy's thoughts, XT chuckled. It reminded him of a military general on his most frequently visited planet who donned a small, black, yet iconic moustache, who also couldn't be fully appeased with his desire of total domination. The link was rather comical to XT.

* * *

As the group shifted topics from the pervert in the middle of the room to the merry planning of the wedding, Stephen alienated himself from the group. Minutes later, he found himself walking around the empty, quiet halls, purring gently with the mechanical buzz of machines. All dimly lit, Stephen didn't realize he was being followed.

At the same time however, Brian had no idea he was following someone. Awake and feeding his shaken mind, he was out to get a midnight snack. Tiptoeing quickly, he was gaining on Stephen, and had no way of distinguishing him from the floor, as they were about the same color.

"OOF!"

Stephen twisted his head like an owl to see what had assaulted him.

"Brian? What in the world are you doing up so late?"

"What are _you_ doing?"

"I asked first!" Stephen pouted.

"I'm going to eat, why are you here?" The conversation seemed slightly immature to Stephen, though he was hardly 10.

"I'm kind of afraid… I think a bit of food might be good though…" Stephen sighed.

"Ok, follow me!" Brian exclaimed excitedly, leading the sleepless experiment to the kitchen.

* * *

Daisy and Brunis, both agreeing to THEA's offer for only helping with their wedding, began to doze off on the couch. They were exhausted, and no one blamed them. Sonic and Amy had already trudged off to their room, leaving Cosmo and Tails to stare at Richard.

"Ok, what's up?" Tails questioned harshly.

THEA's members looked at him with hurt eyes.

"What did we do?" Anna asked sincerely, like she was being victimized.

"I know when you nuts are planning something big, and I have a feeling it goes further than the wedding." Tails looked primarily at Richard, in the center of all of them, slowly waking up.

"Oh, we have plans alright." Lance smirked widely.

"Huh? What's going on?" Richard questioned with slurred voice.

The room was instantly pin-drop silent.

As if worsening his nightmare, the first thing he saw was Cosmo's eyes, fiery compared to her daughter's. Expecting words of hatred and vengeance, Richard was morbidly surprised when Cosmo only tightened her glare and shook her head; it was worse than getting beaten.

"How could you?" Tails broke the stillness of the air.

Richard said nothing. James pushed a finger sharply into his spine.

"When a man of higher status asks you a question, thou shalt respond!" James's eyes glowed a brighter shade of blue, icy to the core. **(A/N: You're all gonig to find that James is one of my favorite guys on THEA, other than XT himself. I have a strange feeling I already said this.)**

"He is not higher than me. Nor are you."

"Answer the question nonetheless. You have committed crimes I so vilely dislike that I am finding it hard to speak." James grit his teeth bitterly, a chill formed around him, causing thermostats in the area to drop.

"Why wouldn't I have? She's a girl, she was pretty, we were made for each other, and it was easy." Richard spat back.

"WHY DON'T YOU GET IT?! Why can't you understand that raping women is wrong? You don't do that, status or not!" Julie had her own outburst. "I've had my share of being abused, prior to meeting XT, and it is horrible, the feelings of being overpowered and defiled. Why can't guys like you leave us alone? Men like you don't deserve to live." Julie sobbed a bit, and shrunk back to XT, her courage diminished.

Richard was silent, it was his best defense.

"You weren't made for each other. She was not even supposed to have been born, especially here. So why do you abuse her?"

Richard said nothing. They could question him all they wanted, and they'd get the same unresponsiveness. He had no reason. He was the most powerful person in the world, and he wanted to show it off. That was the final, absolute answer. And he figured there was no reason explaining it.

Cosmo grabbed Tails hand and stormed off, not letting herself cry in front of Richard. That would've let him win.

XT and Julie were gone, leaving Anna, James, Lily, Xenophon, Gannon and Lance to tend to Richard. Richard looked up and stared at the mechanical faces, unwavering as they glared at him.

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Well, I know we could turn you into a helpless girl and force you around into similar ways."

"Me? A girl?"

"All we'd have to do is give you to Lance, he's got an axe small enough for the job, but all of us have small knives that would do the same process." Richard's eyes burst to an enormous size. **(A/N: You have to admit, that is a horrible, horrible threat. Yes, they were speaking of chopping his _stuff_ off.)**

"I will do no such thing. I don't believe in violence." Anna declared.

"I know of a way to punish him." James snarled as he picked Richard up by the throat and led the group upstairs to the ruins of the house above.

* * *

"Now watch this," Brian smiled as he tapped in a ridiculously long code into a glowing green pad attached to a massive metal door. The moment he was done, a wave of cold overcame them, and condensed water clouded their vision briefly. A bright light cleared the water vapor, and when that subsided, and their eyes became adjusted to it, Stephen gasped.

Before him was the widest selection of food he had ever seen outside of a store. From fruits to veggies to processed junk, this fridge had it all, and in a nice and neat order too.

"You have to admit, my dad is pretty cool." Brian sighed, and shivered thinking how close he had come to death. "Well, dig in, but don't make too much of a mess, we can't leave anything behind."

"Hey, um…" Stephen began before he lunged into the food, "do you have a library down here?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I want to do some reading…"

"Ok… I'll take you there, if you want me to."

"I'd be very grateful." Stephen sighed, worried for his future.

* * *

Richard was placed in the middle forest, that's where he regained consciousness. He was alone, but he found it hard to move. His eyes were strong in the darkness, and he soon found out that he wasn't completely alone.

One figure was in a tree, laying down on a branch, looking at him angrily. Another was peering at him through a bush. A third was staring from behind a tree, half concealed. The fourth was hanging in some vines from above, leering at him from above. The fifth was halfway buried in front of him. But the sixth stood, cloaked in a dark veil attached at his shoulders.

Richard was up against a tree, but that didn't stop him from running.

Or, that didn't stop him from trying to run.

Massive arms latched onto his shoulders and pulled him back into the middle of a newly formed circle. Once cornered, Richard looked pleadingly into all of their eyes.

_Please don't kill me! _Was his only plea for safety.

"Why should we save you? You hurt an innocent girl! We're vigilantes, we act when the law doesn't. You have broken our moral code, so we'll break you."

"NO! I don't deserve to die!" He cried like a baby in the grand fear of the massive robots looming over him.

"You're right," The blue one, James, murmured. "You don't deserve to die. We won't kill you, because then you'll get away unpunished. I am going to break you though, and you're never going to forget me." James growled.

Lance knew when his forced brother was getting pissed off. He'd seen it before. Normally a shy and kind person, James was unthreatening in almost all ways other than his appearance. But, go against what he believed was right, and you'd face the wrath of what James had convinced everyone on THEA was hell.

Everyone backed away as James made his approach. Throwing his hands out forwards, a blue aura came from them, clasping onto Richard's head. Richard squealed on the ground, trying to get away, but was incapable of moving.

What was going on inside his head, however, was even worse.

He was screaming. Feelings of violation, hurt, pain, discomfort, uneasiness, and sadness overwhelmed him. He could see James in his head perfectly, standing over him how he was in real life, but other things occurred that couldn't have in real life. He saw Daisy, crying as he felt sad, being raped by himself as he felt violation, feeling a gut twisting feeling of uneasiness as he shot her a smirk. He was being forced into empathy with her.

"STOP!" He screamed, the feelings James had collected from Daisy's interactions with Richard overwhelming the poor cat.

James' hands only grew wider, allowing more blue light to come from them into Richard's head.

Every little action Richard had ever done to her was being absorbed into his head, in a completely different perspective. He felt horrible, and he swore he was about to vomit.

Needless to say, he got no sleep.

* * *

Stephen and Brian munched on cake as they searched for books in the library.

"So what are you searching for again?"

"I want to know something about myself… and I'm not sure what it is."

"Why?" Brian was fairly confused.

"I… can you keep a secret?" Stephen asked seriously.

"Yeah."

"I mean, so secret no one in the whole world, not even Sarah or your parents or the teachers, or any policeman can know?"

"Absolutely."

"I woke up about to kill Sarah. I was mumbling that phrase I mumbled in that monster form, and I had my arms in a sword mode aimed to slice Sarah's head off. I don't want to hurt her, and I think, that if I find out what's wrong with me, I'll be able to treat it."

Brian looked at Stephen horrified.

"You, but you wouldn't hurt her, would you?"

"I don't want to."

"But you can't, can you?"

"Listen Brian, I beat the crap out of your father, Sarah's father, Sarah's mom, your mom, and Sarah all at the same time, I didn't kill them, but I really hurt them, you weren't there, thank heavens, but, I could seriously hurt them…"

"But you haven't yet have you?"

"Another secret?" Stephen pleaded.

"Yes, I can keep another."

"A robot didn't take Sarah's arm off."

Brian looked at Stephen curiously, perplexed and failing to see the point.

"I did."

"You… you… you took her arm off? HOW?!"

Stephen's arm elongated, and sharpened.

"Feel that." Brian poked the end of his arm, and his finger started bleeding a little bit.

"OW! That stings!"

"I still remember what it felt like…" Stephen fell to the floor, shaking a bit, "what it was like for my arm to so easily slice through her fragile arm… it was like cutting butter with a knife! She's so easy to break… and I'm too strong… I'm a monster, and I don't want to be."

"You don't have to be…" Brian said assuredly, keeping his distance nonetheless. "If you don't want to be a bad guy, you don't have to. You just have to try to be good."

"But what if this voice inside my head tells me otherwise? Eh? What if it demands I hurt her? And it takes control? What if I can't stop it?"

"Then we keep quiet about all of this, and read for a solution." Brian shrugged, hinting that they were being too loud.

"Fine…" Stephen sighed, picking up a book, and wiping away his fearful tears.

In about ten minutes, Brian had fallen asleep, and left Stephen all alone to his research.

And in around one hour, two hours away from the start of school the next day, Stephen never found what he was looking for. But thought he was on to something when he read "Dissociative Identity Disorder," and "Schizophrenia," however, none of them fit perfectly. He vowed to find out his problem, but only after a quick nap.

That nap happened to take him until the next morning.

* * *

**Another reason, other than the aforementioned issue, for my sluggishness to write is due to my new sport, Track. If any of you care, I do the Long Jump, and possible the shortest possible sprint there is.**

**I'm not gonig to promise much, but...**

**More coming sooon...**


	36. Back on Track

**_Of all of the gifts I have to give/_**

**_Life is the greatest, I LET YOU LIVE!_**

**Too long it has been (I've had this damn things going on for 23 months. And yes, if my calculations are correct, it has been a FULL YEAR since I last updated this old story, lol.) I am too tired to make a dramatic reentry, so screw it. I'm getting this shit done!**

**MUHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO! XT-421 is back! Thrusters to full! Cinnamon Toast Crunch FTW! ALL SYSTEMS AT THE OTAKU LEVEL! GET THIS SHIT DONE!**

**ALL HAIL THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT!**

**ENJOY MY FANS!**

* * *

Brunis and Daisy awoke on the couch to the sight of XT, sitting on a chair near them, gently rocking the human girl in his arms. Julie was snoring slightly, but too lightly for it to be audible.

"Good morning." His metallic voice was about the same decibel as a pin dropping. "It is 7:34 in the morning. You have school today, unless you would rather plan the wedding."

"Oh yes." Daisy cooed, standing up as silently as her flowery body would allow. Brunis followed quickly and stealthily, hoping to help her in the bathroom.

XT just rocked in his chair, smiling ever so slightly.

* * *

Sarah began to stretch herself awake, groaning as she went. She knew she had school today, and wasn't too happy about it. She felt around the bed, trying to find something, or particularly someone, to cling onto. She found no one.

That struck her as odd. She hopped out of her bed, and noticed what she already assumed; Stephen was gone, and thus, unable to reattach her arm for her. Frowning, she threw on her jacket and got dressed as best she could.

"Where did Stephen go?" She wondered aloud, horribly confused.

Wandering the tall, dimly lit corridors of Tails' Workshop, she began to check every possible location of Stephen, too sleepy to actually dart off and look for him, her mechanical arm in hand, waiting to be attached by someone who knew how to do so.

* * *

Richard had fallen into a dark slumber. Nightmares clouded his usually pleasant, or pleasing, dreams. He knew, all too well, where he was, and who was with him at that time. The robots were causing the nightmares, but he was far too exhausted to fight back at them.

"Do you think he'll wake any time soon?" Lance asked his comrade, both looking at the lump of flesh and fur in the middle of the forest clearing.

"Probably not," James groaned, wishing the creature had the energy to put up with more. He wasn't done.

"Should we leave him here?" Anna was always concerned for people, no matter how evil.

"No, nor should he see us, he may remember it all and blame us, not himself. I teach through torture, and he wouldn't learn much if anything from that session if he blames anyone but himself."

"So we need to… drop him off…"

"In the Workshop, or… no. Well…" James deliberated for the team. "Do you think we can take him to his home?"

"He may call a lawyer…"

"We'll be quicker." James swore on it.

"So," Anna began, "I bring Daisy and Brunis to the police station and…"

"I'll get Richard home." James smiled wickedly.

"Ok, let's go quickly." Lance declared, following Anna, Gannon, Lily, and Xenophon into the Workshop to find Brunis and Daisy while James used his custom-built jetpack to rocket off to Richard's home, a place he'd seen many a time whilst viewing the cat-boy's brain.

* * *

Brunis brushed his teeth slowly and methodically. He'd never been used to it, at least, before he met Daisy. And she forced him to start doing it again after he rejoined her, as his breath was just a bit under satisfactory for her. Daisy was in the shower, and Brunis knew he wasn't going to be showering, as he felt it messed up his fur in the morning. He showered in the evening. His real purpose there in the bathroom wasn't really to brush his teeth or shower, however. He knew Daisy well enough to ask for-

"Hey Brunis?" Daisy's voice became childishly shy, and her head, with golden locks soaked and dripping, poked out of the shower curtains. "Can you help me with-"

"Yes Daisy." Brunis sighed, trying not to chuckle. Daisy never realized she asked him _every_time for helping with washing her back.

"How did you know?" Was her usual, and present, response.

"I just know these things darling." Brunis began to apply the soap to her from outside the tub, not wanting to get himself wet.

They didn't need to talk; Brunis knew that, in the morning, Daisy typically was in no mood for pleasure other than a hug from him. So, he kept his hands solely on the areas of her back that she couldn't reach. It was a very platonic situation for them both.

In minutes, he was done. "You're welcome." He smiled at her as she turned around.

"You didn't even let me say thanks!"

"Ok, then, I take it back, you're not welcome."

Daisy leaned in and kissed Brunis, his nose brushing into her face, "Thank you, Brunis." She let him go shortly after.

"I should let you thank me more often!" Brunis smiled.

"Have you been using my toothpaste recently?"

"Yeah, sorry… do you want me to stop?"

"Not particularly." Daisy admitted through the shower curtain.

Brunis sighed and went back to brushing his teeth.

"DAISY! BRUNIS!" Anna's voice echoed throughout the house.

"Shush!" XT's voice was harsh and loud. There was a guttural groan, and then a growl. "Look what you did now! You woke her up!" XT was pissed off, from what Daisy could tell.

_CLANK!_

"Ow! That wasn't nice!"

"Ooh! Anna, do you have to act so quickly without thinking?"

"Sorry Stupid Cupid, it isn't my fault I didn't know your precious human was sleeping."

_CLANK! BASH! POW! CHA-CHING! SLAP! CRASH!_

"Wow!" Another voice called, "Anna I didn't think you were so violent! I should've gotten this on tape… James would've-"

"GRARGH!"

_MORE UNNECESSARY LOUD NOISES!_

"Oh boy, we'd better see what's going on…" Daisy sighed, slipping on a bathrobe and walking out with Brunis.

A crowd of drowsy life forms surrounded the tussling robots. By this point, all of them had gotten in on the fight, and it did seem to be cooling down.

"You guys going to stop soon?" Tails moaned, a hand on Cosmo's hip.

"I would it Mr. Otaku is done with his whining!" Anna sneered at XT, she had a loud, persuasive mouth, that was her divine talent.

"Take it back Utopia!" XT dove in for a shoulder tackle.

"I only wanted to get Brunis and Daisy ready for a trial!" Anna cried out in pseudo-pain as XT pinned her down.

"OH! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO? Brunis! Daisy! Everyone! We're going to the police station! HURRY EVERYONE!" XT's mood completely reversed, and he began rushing to and fro about the house.

"XT, what's going on?" Julie sleepily questioned, stirring to consciousness in the chair XT had set her down in.

"Julie! We have to get ready! We're going to the police station!"

"Wha- why?" She was fairly alert now.

"Don't ask questions, there will be a time for that later!" XT grabbed his girlfriend and began hopping around the room, in a hectic, curvy path to the main way out.

"Daisy, it'd be best you got a dress on, or at least something other than a nightgown." Anna cautioned.

"Why are we going to the police station?" Daisy was confused yet again.

"We're bringing the whole group to the police station to make a scene. We're going to get Richard into jail, and XT has been cooking up a plan all night." Anna smirked widely.

"Ok then… what do I need to do?"

"Get dressed, for starters. Then follow us out the door and to the police station." Anna chirped.

* * *

Sarah found Brian and Stephen in the library, both passed out over the various books with junk food scattered throughout the room. She smiled at both of them, even though she should've scolded.

"Stephen," She cooed, crouching over him. "Get up Stephen, please?" Stephen hardly moved.

Sarah knelt down over his chest, her knees barely hitting his armpits. "Get up Stephen!" She leaned over and grabbed his head with her one arm, pulling him into a kiss.

His eyes opened, and he yelped. "That's a way to wake up in the morning."

He fell down and groaned. "What time is it?"

"Some time around seven. We have school in an hour, so I figured I'd wake you up. Besides… I don't know how to put on the arm…" She waved the mechanical hand around Stephen's face.

Stephen looked at her from underneath, and he suddenly pulled her into him as tightly as he could without breaking her. Tears welled in his eyes and he started whimpering faintly.

"Stephen, are you ok?" Sarah returned the hug.

"No I'm not. Sarah… it's back…" His grip tightened.

"What's back?"

"The monster within me. I woke up last night around midnight about to slice your head off. I-I really think that we should… stay apart…"

This was not an option for the emotionally unstable hedgehog. "Absolutely not."

Stephen let go of her and looked into her eyes, curiously befuddled.

"You didn't kill me, you stopped yourself. You'll stop yourself again. I know you can't hurt me."

"Sarah!" The girl leaned outwards, away from Stephen, "look at your arm! That. Was. Going. To. Be. Your. Head. I know I can hurt you. And this voice in my head tells me to do it. I don't want to hurt you! I couldn't live with myself if I did! Please, understand that I could hurt you!"

She did, but she didn't want to believe it. Sarah's mouth hung open, unable to think clearly. She did not want to give Stephen up, he was too handsome, too sweet, too cute, and too nice to let go, even if her life was in danger.

"You're my best friend. No. _WE_ are going to make it through this. Besides… if you leave, and I'm not around you, if that voice tells you to kill me, what if you go manic again? I can't make you snap out of it, not until it was too late."

Stephen was quiet; she had a very valid point.

"You're staying, my slave." She smiled, lightening the mood.

"Fine… but you're not safe; just know that, please… I don't want to kill you… but that voice…" Stephen shuddered violently, so that his skin rippled with the vibrations.

Sarah jumped off of him with a squeal. "THAT FELT WEIRD!" she landed on the grounded laughing hysterically, Stephen had just invented a new way to tickle Sarah.

After reattaching her arm, Stephen took her by the hand and the two left Brian in the Library, slightly out of forgetfulness, off to eat a fair breakfast.

* * *

Daisy, Brunis, Tails, Cosmo and Julie all walked behind THEA as they formed a 'V' leading them all to the police station. XT held Julie's hand as they spoke to the police officer in charge.

"I'm sorry, we don't serve robots here."

XT's face, normally quite joyous, became quite cross.

"What a way to ruin a day! Julie, perhaps you could help handle this?" He looked sweetly to her, eliciting a blush from her face. This only frightened the police officer. Julie looked at the police officer and took a breath to calm herself; she was very people shy.

"Sir, we are here to report a crime." Julie stood aside at the command of a small tap of XT.

The police officer looked at Daisy in disbelief, it wasn't often an anthropomorphic plant came into his office, and now the last two on the whole planet were there.

"I am here to report a rape." Her voice quavered ever so slightly.

The police officer looked a little more interested at this. "Very well. Follow me for the briefing." The police man walked away from his station and into the back rooms.

Daisy followed him until she alone was sitting in a chair across from him.

"Sadly, the number of rapes on animals has been increasing lately... I can't help but feel this is an omen for something to come..." He muttered, "So, let's start with some basic questions." Daisy nodded. "Can you describe the man who raped you?"

"Yes sir. Very well. His name is Richard the Cat, he is a-"

"Ma'am," the police officer sighed, "I know it would be disrespectful of me to say this, but can you please allow me to hook you to a lie detector? We have many cases of Richard the Cat, or likewise wealthy celebrities raping some unknown, helpless victim. I must verify that you are speaking truthfully."

A tear fell from Daisy's eye as she allowed the man to hook the machine to her.

"Now, now, now!" XT's voice was heard as the locked door bent open. The rest of THEA came with him. "I know very well that that machine will not work in this given scenario." XT stated in a matter-of-factly tone. "She is in a state of emotional disarray. That will offset her inner vibrations that make that machine work, and all results will come up false."

The policeman stuttered, never once did he consider the faults of the machine.

"If you want proof, I have it here," XT tapped his skull, "readouts and diagnostics of the young girl's mind and body, detailing every sick and painful moment of the experience she felt that night. If you want, we can show you, and you will experience everything she felt, gender aside." XT's grin appeared, twisted in all the right ways.

"N-no, that's ok." The man replied.

"I and my comrades shall wait outside, the door will be locked once more, but you must promise me, listen to her tale." XT waved as he began to shut the door.

"And please monsieur, do the right thing." Anna's voice added pleadingly.

Daisy looked at the policeman sheepishly, shrugging.

"Ok, so, let's get the details down..." The two began to detail every event that had happened during the rape.

* * *

Sarah, Stephen and Brian had been at school for awhile now. The three were bored out of their mind, yet filled with anticipation for this upcoming wedding. Sarah was already swooning about being a part of it, and Stephen was constantly calming her down.

However, they had no idea that the lovebirds were about to appear on TV.

"This just in on Mobian News Network." A reporter began, overlooking Richard's home mansion.

"Richard the Cat, famous multi-billionaire child has just been arrested by local enforcer over a confirmed rape accusation. Here we have the willing victim Daisy to- er," the reporter covered her microphone and spoke into the background, "we have this, robot, speaking on her behalf."

Sarah spoke with glee, "It's XT!"

"Hello Mobius," the metal humanoid spoke to the camera, "I am XT-421, errg," he struggled to resist his iconic phrase, "and I am here to speak on Daisy's behalf. Recently, Daisy had been kidnapped and raped by the notorious Richard the Cat. I have amassed all details pertaining to this crime including DNA samples of the two involved. There is no doubt in my mind that this crime did not occur." XT spoke very casually.

"So you're sure Richard raped her?"

"Absolutely. I have a simulated video recollected from Daisy's mind, the graphic nature of which cannot be shared on public television."

"What is your opinion of this situation?"

"For Richard, I feel no pity. The waste of cells should spend much of his time in an insane asylum if you ask me, and as for Daisy, and her fiancé Brunis, I feel nothing but a sense of tragedy. They were to be married on this day had the villainous doctor Damian Robotnik not intervened."

"Married?"

"Yes. Daisy Prower, daughter of Miles 'Tails' Prower, has been engaged to Brunis for quite some time now. My records show that this constant sexual harassment from Richard, present for nearly a year, has grown to criminal levels. Ranging from hypothetical mind-control to public molestation, most of these actions happened on school grounds, where teachers just simply refrained from looking. This growing assault wasn't provoked until Richard discovered their engagement. It sent him over the edge, and he swore to take what he felt was his. I can quote him on that."

"Will a trial be necessary?" The reporter asked, more or less so that the audience can feel informed.

"Most likely, but I don't feel it should be. Richard can only suffer from this point. Did you know, in previous years, he's bought out the courts to rule in his favor?"

"N-no, actually." The reporter stood shocked, and a little disgusted.

"Lemme lay it on you honey, money is evil. It does little but corrupt the minds of people." XT preached, "take for example Richard here. He's gotten everything he wants through money, and he intended to get this girl by means of money as well. He is so tainted... I retire, I cannot put up with the camera any longer." XT walked away.

"I-I guess that concludes our documentation of this event." A helicopter in the distance was seen taking Richard from his house.

"That means he's gone, right?" Stephen asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, that Richard kid is gone Stephen." Sarah nodded, happy for her rival.

* * *

A trial was immediately held afterwards, and Richard was taken away. No money could've avoided it, XT had doomed him with his speech on global television.

Daisy listened, trying not to look as Richard was taken, his sentence to rot in an insane asylum given.

"Damn you XT! Damn you to hell!" Richard screamed as two large men took him away, one on each arm. "DAISY! I WILL NEVER STOP WANTING YOU! YOU'RE MINE! ALL MINE! I WILL KILL BRUNIS! I WILL KILL ALL OF YOUR CHILDREN WITH HIM! YOU BELONG WITH ME AND ME ALONE! YOU! ARE! MI-!" Brunis's paws acted as great mufflers.

Daisy cried; it was too much to take.

"It's all over Daisy," Brunis whispered after releasing his paws oh her ears.

"The way... the way he said that... I... I..." She hugged Brunis, and trembled.

"He won't kill me. If it means going to the ends of the planet, climbing the tallest mountain or diving in the deepest sea, I will keep you safe, and away from him."

XT clapped.

"Now, I'm not sure how soon you want it..." XT muttered, "but, I believe that we should have that wedding soon."

"Can I at least have a week?" Daisy sobbed.

"Um..." XT looked back at his family, and they all stared at each other, sending and receiving encrypted notes from one another in a high speed, digital dialogue.

"No." he concluded. "Walk with me for a mere moment, I have something to discuss with you alone. I suggest everyone goes home. The day after tomorrow, we will all be here, reclaiming Tails' name as a person in the world."

"Can't I go with her?" Brunis growled.

"Not yet, Brunis... it concerns you, but it is Daisy's business primarily. We will talk, and then you will hear later. No exceptions, understood? Good!" XT strode off with a feeble Daisy as they discussed matters so secret few in the world could hear.

Brunis grumbled and waited outside the audible zone of them.

* * *

As Sarah and Stephen and Brian came home from school, they noticed everyone was in a peculiar mood. _Content._ Stephen noted mentally.

Dinner came, the two, no, three families ate together. The Rinocian's repaired the house in record time, and then cooked a new food for the eating portions of the group, and everyone ate their 'mostacholi' with interesting expressions on their faces.

"What is this?" Stephen kept asking as he came across a new taste of flavor, asking specifically what taste came from which elements of the dish itself. For a moment, it seemed like destiny that he was to become a chef.

"So Daisy..." Brunis pressed once more, worried for his fiancée, "What did you speak with XT about?"

"I... I can't tell... not right now." She glanced around the table, fretful.

Brunis fought the urge to complain, hard. It was his business, but whatever it was, it was Daisy's right to know, not his. Gripping his utensils a little tighter, he let his frustration out, and let peaceful thoughts in.

"So you two are getting married tomorrow?" Julie asked Daisy excitedly.

"Yes," Daisy blushed.

"It is so peculiar, you folks here. You all look _so_ different from humans yet you act just like us... It is quite cute, actually. I wish I could've seen this place sooner, it is almost magical."

"Savor it while it lasts. I keep hearing rumors of animal hate groups here and there." XT muttered to everyone.

"Racism is such a peculiar thing..." Anna sighed. "No logic, really."

"Racism?" Stephen asked.

Tails answered, "Racism is an illogical hatred for something or some group of people, based on illogical concepts, such as skin color, religion, or in our case, species. If you haven't noticed, humans dominate the planet right now, just by a bit, and the animals are not well received everywhere."

"Well," Stephen thought for a moment, "I'm lucky I'm an experiment!" He chuckled a little bit, then something from his chest thumped out slightly, and a small twinge in his eye appeared. "Sarah," He uttered in the smallest voice he could. He looked absolutely petrified.

Sarah darted over to him and gave him a small kiss on the lips, and suddenly he twitched again and relaxed.

"Sarah!" Amy nearly growled, "not at the table."

"Sorry mom." Sarah said sheepishly, and darted back to her chair.

"Stephen, are you alright?"

"VerymuchsowhyshouldyouaskI'veneverfeltbetterinmylife! ThankyouTHEAforthemostacholi!" Stephen placed his dish in the sink and Lily immediately went about cleaning it.

Sarah place her plat in a similar fashion and darted upstairs the moent Stephen left sigh of the room.

"Mom," Daisy said to Cosmo, "may Brunis and I retire to the workshop bedroom? I... I feel a little dizzy." Cosmo nodded and Daisy zoomed off with Brunis into the bedroom in the workshop.

The couples and families slowly retired to bed.

* * *

"Sarah... I felt it again... the voice wanted me to kill you..." Sarah hugged her so tightly.

"I could see you fighting it... But," Sarah lightened the mood, "that means I get to kiss you more often, right?"

"I guess." Stephen admitted, smiling an increment or so.

_*Knock*_

_*Knock*_

"Nah ah Missy, you are NOT sleeping in the same room as him for a long time." Amy cautioned from the other room.

"Sorry mom!" Sarah's face turned beat red, "I swear, it won't ever happen again!"

"No chances. You're coming to sleep with use tonight if that's what it takes." Amy sternly spoke.

"Actually..." Stephen asked, "may I sleep downstairs in the workshop? I'd like to speak with Mr. Prower, actually." Stephen's request was music to Amy's ears.

"Yes Stephen, feel free to sleep downstairs."

"Thank you Mrs. Rose!" Stephen gave her a quick hug as he left the bedroom to the basement.

* * *

XT and THEA were conspiring as Stephen walked beyond them in the living room.

"So, in the morning, we'll have to separate them?"

"Hell, I'd say midnight."

"They follow that tradition here too?" Julie asked. The Rinocians spoke just so she could take part in their conversations.

"They do indeed, and when they wake up, we'll make sure they can't see each other. We'll help in whatever ways we can."

They continued conspiring until Julie fell asleep, then the Rinocians resumed their digital conversation.

"Mr. Prower," Stephen began.

* * *

"Yes Stephen?" Tails responded.

"Can you help me? I want to be restrained tonight." Stephen asked shyly.

"Ok... any reason in particular?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Stephen answered. "Just please, help me make a box that I can be locked into when I go to sleep?"

"Afraid of something, Stephen?"

"Maybe. Just help me, please..."

"As you wish, Stephen." Tails smiled, walking off to another part of the workshop with the little Einstein.

* * *

"Brunis..." Daisy whispered, lying on her back next to Brunis on their bed.

"Yes, my love?"

"We messed up." Her voice was completely defeated.

"How so?" Brunis was still smiling about putting Richard in a straight jacket. "We put him away, didn't we?"

"No... we did great there..."

"Then what is it?"

"Do you really love me, no matter what?"

"I wouldn't want to spend my life with anyone else, or as anything else other than your loving husband." He smiled, looking at his fiancée.

"XT told me that we have to get married tomorrow, I agreed with him. We will be married tomorrow."

"Whatever it is, it is your right to know, not mine." Brunis admitted, making it clear he didn't want to bother her about it anymore.

"Oh, no, you have plenty of right to know." Daisy trembled in Brunis's arms, "I', pregnant, Brunis."


	37. Soul Searching

**I will admit, this is taking much longer than anticipated. Amidst College hunting, scholarship doing, job hunting, and other senseless excuses, Solitare included, I am finding it difficult to stay focused on this story.**

**But don't think me a weakling! I WILL finish this story before I die. It may take me a good twenty years, but it wil get done! (Actualy predictions estimate the story's completion before the beginning of school.)**

**So, without further ado, another chapter of this TWO YEAR story.**

* * *

Brunis let Daisy go for a moment and sat up, looking at her. Fear was in her eyes. He might have been sitting down on the bed, but he felt like he was tumbling down a hill.

"Wha…?" He managed to get out.

"I am pregnant, Brunis." Her eyes stared him down, begging him for anything other than hesitation.

The dim lights in the quaint room faintly illuminated the faces of the two lovers as Brunis looked down at himself.

"Is… is it Richard?" Brunis asked, swallowing hard.

"I… I don't think so… XT wouldn't tell me…" Daisy feebly answered.

Silence followed.

"No…" Brunis stammered about for words. "No matter whose child it is… it is also yours. That is all I need to know. If it is his child, we'll raise it as ours. If it is mine, we'll raise it as ours. If… if it happens again… we'll raise it as ours…" Brunis gripped to control his breathing.

"Oh Brunis!" Daisy jumped up and hugged him. "I'm so sorry this happened."

"Don't be, don't be…" Brunis rubbed her back as he consoled her, "No bad can come from a child of yours. I will show it the love I show to you every day. I love you, and I will love it." He gave Daisy a kiss, and suddenly the world seemed happier to both of them. "You're pregnant!" Brunis grabbed Daisy and rolled on the bed, speckling her face with kissing.

Daisy cried tears of joy. _He understands! Oh thank heavens!_

"So THAT is why we must get married tomorrow! Let's not set a bad example for the kids, hahahaha!" His laughter was so carefree it felt that the two would start floating in midair.

"Yes," Daisy cooed merrily.

"Do your parents know?"

"Let's not tell them… I'm afraid my parents would not be pleased… they married far before love making came into play…"

"True… but 8 years old is a bit young to marry in my mind." Brunis chuckled.

"Let's not tell…"

"It is in your stomach, it is your secret to share and tell. If you don't want me to, I won't." Brunis lay on his back, "wow… This is going to change a lot…" He sighed, his mood dropped, "what about school? Didn't Brian get born in a few weeks? This must've happened very recently, and… we won't be able to finish school and have a child…"

"Perhaps we can drop out? With my father helping, perhaps we could live by ourselves?"

"That would not be fair to him, Daisy… We must find jobs, and we must work to keep ourselves… and… our child… alive…"

"Yeah… that seems about as fair as it gets... We have to leave eventually… or at least, move out of the house." Daisy admitted.

"Oh my lovely, let's go to sleep, this is too much excitement for one day." Brunis sighed happily as he pulled Daisy close.

"I love you," Daisy whispered.

"I love you too." He pulled her close to his warm fur and let her fall asleep to the rhythmic sound of his breathing.

"We sent Richard away, I'm marrying the girl of my dreams, and she's pregnant with a child that might be mine… life is great…" Brunis smiled as he breathed his way to sleep.

* * *

Stephen grumbled as he fit himself into his box. Tails had helped him build a small steel compression chamber to lock Stephen in. If their calculations were correct, Stephen only needed a few microscopic cracks to give an air intake.

The box should hold him, at least, for tonight.

As he crammed himself into the box, and Tails locked him in tightly, he reminded himself frequently of what he was doing. He was protecting Sarah.

* * *

Quasar lay floating on a table hooked up into her head. She was mentally controlling the movement of her large floating chair, locked in place so she wouldn't move too much. She hovered in the living room with THEA and Julie, trying to keep up with their mental dialogue. It was so fast, and so complex, she had extreme difficulty following.

When she finally gave up trying to join the group, much to her dismay, she looked at Julie, sitting on her father's lap. Envy welled up within her, or something like it. It was uncontrolled and wild in feeling.

"Quasar," XT snapped back mentally, "treat your mother right. I love her, and you will love her to."

"Why dad! Why a human?"

"I love Julie because there is no one else who can. I watched as her life degraded since I met her when she was five. Her parents died in a fire, and she wandered around orphanage to orphanage, sent to too many sessions of therapy because she met me. No one on Earth believed I existed, which only ruined her further. Julie's life only nosedived from there. Cheated on by four different boys, I came back and tried to help my childhood friend. My consciousness was new then. I found that the only way to make her better was to make her happy, and this ultimately meant to love her. I've known Julie for awhile, and I know her planet's people have betrayed her, probably because of me. I can't let a mortal being suffer, none of us can."

Quasar remained silent. The rest of THEA shot her glares.

"Can you really blame me? I am a robot, you all are. We were initially built as slaves for humanoids. But you all have the gift of thought, as do I. Why do we still serve humans? Why can't we get more robots on our sides and just not care about them anymore?"

"Because Quasar, life is what they have. They are brought into this world, and they will eventually be brought out of it. They have a limited span on this world, and we don't. We will be here forever. Is it fair for us, with our grand gifts to never use them?" XT countered.

"It just seems wrong..." Quasar grumbled, drifting away in her chair.

"She has more emotion in her than we do, XT." James noted, "I feel something immense about her in the spirit world..." He added quietly.

"Still blabbin' about heaven?" Lance rolled his eyes.

"I like her." Lily commented absentmindedly.

"Keep her safe, XT." Anna added.

"Don't worry, I'll keep both my girl's safe and sound, no matter what happens to them..." XT sent out as he held Julie closer.

"One must pity both of them." Anna sighed.

XT couldn't help but agree. With a sigh, they all continued in digital communiqués until the night turn into day.

* * *

The moment light came in through the windows, the Rinocians sprung into action. Determined to give a normal wedding this time, they slunk into Brunis's and Daisy's room.

"Aw, you can see it in their faces, she told him and he was happy for her!" Anna cooed.

"Yes, yes, now let's get them away from one another." XT hushed, working with Anna to take Daisy away from Brunis.

The team of six, Gannon had left to tend his ship in his angry solitude and Quasar had run off somewhere to wallow in her defeat, worked efficiently at removing Daisy from the group, and leaving Brunis, asleep and in his bed.

Anna and XT, with Daisy in both their arms, whisked her away to another section of the house, up the chute of the workshop, and into the guest bedroom of the joint residence.

The moment XT and Anna sat Daisy down in her new room, she began to stir. The two Rinocians silently giggled at her cute groaning and unconscious stretching. They sat there for a minute more, waiting for her to wake up.

"Brunis..." She moaned softly, reaching over the bed to where he was supposed to be.

"Aren't you getting married little lady?" XT joked.

Daisy's eyes bolted open. "XT?" Daisy looked around. "Ok... you removed me from Brunis for today, thanks." Daisy lay back on her bed for a moment.

"So, when do you want your wedding?" XT asked, rather eagerly.

"No." Daisy looked at XT. "I heard what you did to my mother, and my answer is no. Brunis worked very hard to make an altar downstairs, and after I get a nice dress on, I expect the two of us to be married in mostly silent solitude." Daisy declared.

XT's face dropped, "no huge party? No vast crowds celebrating your victory over Richard?"

Daisy sighed, sitting up and looking at the shocked robot, "I want a quaint wedding. I want it to be peaceful, and I want it to be lovely. My family, Sonic's family, they can all come and watch, but I just want to finally be able to call Brunis mine lawfully." Daisy smiled.

"Well then, Mr. Otaku, looks like your plans didn't go over so nicely after all!" Anna chuckled.

XT let his head sink, moping glumly. "I wanted a big party..."

"Sorry XT. Not for the wedding." XT suddenly flashed a smile, repressed it and sat up.

"Ok Daisy! What kind of a dress do you want to wear for your wedding?" XT smiled strangely, Anna looked away rolling her eyes.

"You know... when you do that... it scares me." Daisy mentioned, and got out of bed, patting down her nightgown and stretching again. "A dress huh? I guess I need a new one, seeing as the old one is completely tarnished... Is Brunis out getting a suit of sorts?"

"From what we can tell, yes, James and Lance are with him. Our other siblings, well, Gannon left to tend to the _Resonance_, and Lily is upstairs tidying _everything_ up, and Xenophon, I don't know. He's gone off the map, probably heading to Gannon to fix the ship. James and Lance are with Brunis, and will help him with whatever." XT reported.

"That's good, at least my man will be ready." She smiled.

"So do you have any good places in mind for a wedding dress?" Anna asked humbly.

"No… I… well we went to a mall a few days ago to get the last one... would it be hard to get another wedding dress?" Daisy looked puzzled.

"Well, geez, not hard. When you're working with us, that is." XT giggled, tossing Daisy up in the air. Anna caught half of her, and XT with her other half, and the trio rushed out into the wild world together to hunt down the perfect dress to replace the damaged one from yesterday.

* * *

"So, Brunis," James began, the rest of THEA, save Lance, had long since left him, "I can obviously see you and Daisy have a strong connection. Care to explain?"

Brunis's face swelled with elation. "Daisy is the first person to show compassion for me who was around my age. She gave me hope when no one else would. Why do you ask? And I can't help but notice you speak differently than XT… care to explain _that_?" Brunis raised an eyebrom with a smirk on his face.

"Well, I'm a-"

"He's a religious bolthead who doesn't know what he's talking about." Lance cut in.

Brunis looked at the two confused.

"What he means is this. Unlike the rest of THEA, I know of the spiritual side of life. I've seen the planes of existence where the dead and the living combine as one. It may be a tough concept to understand… but it is basically like knowing heaven exists."

"We've tried to talk him out of it. It's too silly." Lance butted in once more.

"I think it is great to have a spiritual background. I'm no particular fan of any belief system, but, I feel that, you will appear _somewhere_ after you die." Brunis admitted.

"Of course you do. You will eventually die, therefore, you believe that you must remain alive at all times, in one form or another. The concept of just not existing is too frightening to fully grasp. Lemme tell you something, when you die, you're gone, kid." Lance bluntly put it.

Brunis took mild offense. "Well lemme tell YOU something. If that's the case, then I'm going to live a good long life in between now and my demise. And more importantly, that's why I'm going to give Daisy the best life SHE can have." Brunis held a silent glare for a bit longer, then continued walking. It was a fight neither could win.

The trio found themselves before a large mall, gently bustling about amidst the early time in the morning. Without a word, they entered and began searching for a shop. James and Lance made absolutely no noise, allowing Brunis to decide for himself where he was to buy his wedding outfit.

"I like that one." He said, pointing to a solid black tuxedo.

"Very well, we shall arrange it for you." James said, nudging Lance over to the counter.

"Wait, I have to talk to the human creatures? Why me?" Lance growled.

"Because you need to learn some anger management, and in my almighty opinion, it would be beneficial to complete the simple task of ordering a suit." James smirked.

Lance walked up to the counter and grabbed the human clerk's attention.

"Hello sir," he said with heavily fabricated kindness.

"We don't serve robot's here." The clerk responded instantly.

_IMPUDENCE!_ "I am asking on behalf of that fine gentleman over there." Lance pointed at Brunis in the corner.

"An animal?" The man grunted. "Tell your master that he can't afford it."

"My _acquaintance_," Lance corrected angrily, "is a man of much wealth. You will sell to him, or answer to me." Lance pulled forth a flaming gun and pointed it to the man's gut with a snarl on his face.

"Lance! Lance," James grabbed the angry robot's arm and lowered it, "we are nice to humans, _nice._" He urged. "My apologies about my brother here, he doesn't like your kind very much. I don't either, but, unlike him, I verbally express my disapproval while he likes to violently express his own." James smiled.

"Very well," the man, shaken, nodded.

In moments, Brunis was being measured by the man. It shocked the human to see an animal so large. Brunis was easily the same height as he was, and nearly double in physical stature. What caused the wolf to grow so large was far beyond his comprehension. James and Lance eyed the man carefully as he tailored the suit to Brunis, tail and all, and in minutes, Brunis was able walk away from the man to test the suit.

It was constraining, but it fit, and he only wore it for an image.

"Thank you sir." Brunis held his hand out in humble gesture, but the man seemed to not notice it. At this ignorance, Brunis sighed.

"You owe me-"

"This much." James interrupted, handing the man twice the pricetag ordered.

The man was taken aback by the price as the trio left his shop.

"That man was an ass." Lance muttered.

"I'm sure he has it hard," Brunis countered, defending the man.

"No. No harder than anyone else. That man was very rude to you, solely because you are an animal, and we are mechanical beings." James stated, pointing out the horrible truth.

The trio nodded in silent agreement, and moved on, but not until Lance sneered backwards one final time.

* * *

Stephen woke amidst a slightly battered box. It had been pushed and punctured until it was nearly porous. He frowned. This was not an adequate-enough protection to keep Sarah safe.

"Stephen," Tails spoke softly from outside the box.

"Mr. Prower! How-" Stephen cried out in alarm.

"I watched the whole night. It appears that you have a problem." Tails said, smirking a bit.

"Mr. Prower! Don't tell! Please don't tell! I _am_ a monster, but I want to be good!" Stephen wailed.

"I know, Stephen. I know a lot of what you did, I swear though, I won't tell. I believe you. There is a part of me that watched you grow that knows you could never consciously hurt Sarah." Stephen cringed as Tails went on, "So, let's get one thing straight… You are a creation of Damian Robotnik, are you not?"

Stephen gulped. "I think you're right."

"Then it is… an urge to listen to him?"

"The voice in my head says so. Like… it's like a thought, but it is too… mean to be mine. Does that make sense? I thought it was some form of Schizophrenia, or Multiple Personality Disorder, but it didn't fit the symptoms." Stephen looked down, ashamed.

"That's fine, that's fine. I don't know how to help, exactly, but, you never know anything for sure. I think…" Tails placed a fist under his muzzle pondering, "I notice that you can fight it when you're awake, or rather, conscious…"

"So… if I am conscious more, I will not listen to the voice." Stephen concluded with Tails. "I think it will work."

"And I know of a medication that stimulates conscious thinking. All we have to do is give you those all the time until we can figure out how to fully cure you."

Stephen smiled at those words. _Fully cured… I can be with Sarah without hurting her. _Silently, he went with Tails into the lab willingly obtaining the medicines they'd need to keep his thoughts in line.

* * *

"You know, if I wasn't so used to it, I would be completely worn out and exhausted from everything…" Daisy muttered as she stood on the pedestal, being rigorously measured and fitted by the raging robots, Anna and Xavier.

"I admire your fortitude." Anna commented, making a slight incision in the fabric above the Seedrian's abdomen.

"May I inquire the origin?" XT asked, smirking.

"Brunis." Daisy answered instantly.

"And that is what I love to hear." XT completed his smile. "And don't worry, Daisy, we will give you your _quaint _wedding," XT chuckled.

"Oh jeez! Anna, what is he planning?" Daisy begged.

"Ugh, it's Xavier, what more do I need to say? I don't know him to be a profuse liar. He will give you a quaint wedding." Anna rolled her eyes.

Daisy bit her lip. XT was a devious trickster who loved big parties. He had a knack for telling the truth, yet warping it in such a way that it is only partially true. Anna was more trustworthy, from what Daisy could remember.

"So, you're happy about the whole pregnancy thing?" XT asked, diverting the focus of attention elsewhere.

Daisy's eyes fluttered for a moment. "I'm a bit scared actually... Bless Brunis's heart, he wishes to stand by me no matter the outcome, but this also means that I must make my own opinion about it."

"And what is your opinion about it?" XT questioned, still stitching.

"Well... I asked you before if you could ID the parents of the child,"

"And we couldn't because Seedrian Hybrids are too abnormal for even our scanners, yours will mark the first ever of its specific breed, and the second ever seedrian hybrid." Anna replied mechanically.

"Yes... So I don't know if I am bearing Richard's child, or Brunis's child... Whatever comes from me will be wonderful, or so Brunis says. But I feel that anything that comes from _him_ would be a monstrosity. I'm determined to make it through the whole pregnancy either way, but... what if it is a Cat-Seedrian?" Daisy gulped.

"I see..." XT sighed, "Well, I am only the relationships councilor of the group, sure, I know my fair share of psychology and anatomy, and, oh how we know I know reproduction well, as it often pertains directly to love, but the master of the stuff you speak of is James. He is both our nonsense-I-mean-religious buff, and our parentage buff. He knows what people think very well. He could solve that ongoing riddle about genetics versus upbringing on a child."

"Hmm... So... I should talk to James?" Daisy thought aloud.

"If you really want to know all of that hubbub about children and how they think, go to James. He'll know everything you could ask." XT admitted.

"Ahh, what a pretty flower." Anna commented, pulling back from the dress.

Daisy looked into the mirror as XT pulled back as well. She didn't recognize herself. The gown fell far past her feet, hooping outwards at her waist slightly. It was a pure white, as pure as she was at heart. Her hair, its normal gold, gave a regal air to the space around her body. She was glowing.

"Indeed, I do believe we've outdone ourselves on this one." XT agreed, holding up his clawed hand towards Anna.

"Fashion for the win!" The two cheered as they clapped the other's hand, creating a panging noise that echoed briefly throughout the small store.

"Oh my! My wedding starts in less than an hour!" Daisy squealed, looking at a clock above the conjoined hands of Anna and XT.

"That it does!" XT giggled, offering one arm to Daisy.

Daintily, she dropped down, and Anna took her other arm. From there, the trio departed back to the house on foot.

* * *

Amy sat in bed with a troubled look on her face.

"What's the matter Ames?" Sonic asked casually.

"Sonic, I don't like him..." Amy muttered.

"Who?"

"Stephen of course!" Amy growled, glaring at Sonic.

"Oh, the boy's a fine boy." Sonic countered, shrugging it off. "Besides, Sarah claimed that he saved her from certain death. We should be a bit thankful."

"C'mon! She totally likes him! She's covering for something, I know it..."

"Amy, you sound absolutely paranoid." Sonic paused, thinking it through, "Ok, so, let's say Stephen was still really bad. He's obviously not the Stephen that tried to kill us, so, obviously, something changed in him. Also, if he hurt Sarah in some way, why in the world would she kiss him, and, well, that _other_ peculiar incident?"

"When a girl likes a boy, she'll do anything to stay with him." Amy made her claim, and she would stick with it.

"That sounds like crazy talk." Sonic brushed it off. "I'm sure everything will be fine. If you want, though, I'll keep my eyes open, okay?"

"Okay..." Amy grumbled.

Sonic just rolled his eyes, laying back on the bed that Tails provided after the main house was destroyed.

"You know, I just thought about it... we just lost all of our valuables..." Sonic noted.

"Hmm... You're right. Our house just burned down with everything in it... crap... so much for those cook books that I just bought..." Amy sighed. "That actually brings up another topic, Sonic..."

Sonic looked at her with intrigue. "What is it?" He asked casually.

"I want to go back to college. I like cooking, sure, but... I don't know. Living life as a mediocre chef at a crummy restaurant doesn't seem to hold much appeal for the rest of my life." Amy admitted.

"Hmm, well, I am not one to stop you. By all means, do everything you can to fulfill your dreams. But... how are we going to pay to send you off to college?"

Amy cringed, "I have no idea... perhaps until I can get a degree in something, I'll work as a chef, take out a few loans, work to pay them off, I don't know..."

"What were you thinking about doing?"

"Nursing. Bah, perhaps I am just being delusional..."

"No no, Amy, you'd make a fine nurse. You'd do well at a lot of things if you tried. I'll work some extra shifts, and we'll see if we can get you to a nursing school."

"You mean that?"

"Duh, I wouldn't have married you if I didn't care for your dreams and wishes. Besides, maybe you could help me back to health if I hurt myself while I'm running. Especially if Eggman is back."

"Good point." Amy smiled. "Thank you." A quick kiss later, the two were cradling each other, lounging through the lazy day. **(A/N: I am sorry, I have terribly neglected Sonic and Amy for a large portion of this story... I want to touch bases with them more often as the story draws to its close.)**

* * *

Brunis strolled down the halls of the mall with his two robot companions.

"Wow..." Brunis mused, "I am going to marry her."

James placed a tough arm on his shoulder and smiled. "Yeah. Xavier's been in a hubbub ever since you two first met. He's just as anxious as you are."

"I'm not anxious." Brunis scowled.

"Bah!" Lance chuckled, "you're just as nervous as any man getting married. Last form of legal slavery, you know."

"Hmm, but to be shackled to her for the rest of my years seems like a fair deal." Brunis countered.

"Shackled how?" Lance was grinning wildly as Brunis's face contorted to shock.

_WHACK_!

"Ow!" Lance moaned.

"Idiot. It's a very spiritual relationship between them. I can feel it." James closed his eyes as if to amplify his mysticism. Lance just rolled his.

"You know... Daisy is marrying me, but she has no name to take as her own..." Brunis frowned. "All my life I've been just Brunis, Brunis the Wolf. That is more a status name than a last name... for last names... I don't really have one."

"Everyone has a last name." James said. "They just don't know it."

"Ooh, more nonsense, this will be interesting." Lance tilted his forest green head to the side in admiration for creativity.

James glared at Lance for a moment, and looked back at Brunis thoughtfully.

"When we get back, we'll take a look into your head, and we'll discover your last name."

"That's perfectly fine. There is no need to probe my head for a last name. I'm pretty sure I can make up a good one all the same."

"No." James countered. "Everyone has a last name that speaks truths about their inner self. Tails and his 'Prower' last name is attained at birth from his parents, and Daisy is no exception. The legacy that follows everything related to 'Prower' is present in not only their blood, but that last name. You say you don't have a last name? Bullshit. There is a word out there that will describe you, your children, your parents, your legacy. It is a true word, not some garble. It may not be in the same language as Mobian, but it is present and very real."

Brunis put a partial frown on his face, contemplating.

"Very well, at this point, I'm rather interested. What will you do, and how painful will it be?" Brunis asked.

"No pain, no time. I'm going to place my hand on your head and enter your mind. I won't screw anything up, don't worry." James smiled.

"I hope not. I like my mind a lot the way it is."

"Would you care if I did it now then?" James asked sincerely.

"It won't take long?"

"Not at all."

"Fine. Go ahead. What do I have to do?" Brunis calmed himself.

"Stand there for a moment." Brunis stopped and stood.

James placed a hand on the silver wolf's forehead, and a faint blue glow illuminated his fur. Brunis's eyes grew exceptionally distant as James murmured something incoherent. Lance watched the scene through his scanners, eerily detecting some sequence of characters that struck his as both familiar and foreign.

Inside the spirit world, James breathed deeply. The only Rinocian Robot able to enter the Astral Planes, James felt a sense of contentment here that only he could express. He was in the boy's mind. He looked at himself to verify his location. He rubbed his hands together. Here, he was a human. James long since discovered the truth about THEA, but no one could ever listen to him. Their Arcanium hearts, so majestic and alien housed souls. That is how they could maintain and store so much power, and only deplete it after fully exhausting their personalities. That was how the Demon, who created them so long ago, controlled them. It wasn't a code that governed them; it was a corruption of the soul.

But they never listened.

James was a human, once. His soul came from a version of Earth. He did not know too much more than that. Breathing peacefully, he walked forwards into the mind of Brunis.

It was cold here, and dark. Lonely, even. This was his childhood. James detected the emotions of fear, grief, agony and loss. It was a depressing era of his life. But it was a time of learning, adaptability. Morals were established in this period of growth.

A voice came to James, echoing in the deep remnants of Brunis's past, "I will never be like them."

_And never did you become them._ James smiled. The word that described him here was the sound "Ke", pronounced "kay." It was a Rinocian character, the language James knew best.

The surroundings warped around James, placing him in a new period of time. Strength was everywhere, newfound strength and power, the ability to control anything in the domain of ruling, power unmatched, wrath and anger. Yet, a strong restraint, hatred of his past, tamed by the love he felt for a woman. It tempered him, made him impossibly stronger on the inside. His resolve was unwavering, a promise to be kept, a love to be expressed. This was his present. The fury came from Richard, and those who tried to harm Daisy. This was apparent to James. The love and positivity Daisy provided in his life corrected every faulty behavior he could come up with, it caused him to think before he acted in every instance. Fear was still present, fear of failure. Yet, deep down, there was a belief that no obstacle was incapable of being overcome.

"Tu." James whispered thoughtfully. Though it was not the correct spelling of the English word "two", it served a similar purpose here. This was the present, Brunis's second chance at making everything in his life good and grand. Though that was not the proper meaning of the word "tu", "tu" fitting much better, "two" would be used to describe it if necessary.

Then, the future.

James looked at it with wide eyes. Every person could see their own future, though not consciously. To see this was a sin in James's mind. To see the general flow of a person's future was to know everything about them, and this was a terrible thing to withhold from someone. Yet, it was necessary to do so, for if a person consciously knew their future, their true future would change, forever altering the timeline.

This future was terrible, beautiful, but terrible. For his future, the likes of which James would encrypt and hide from everyone, James only could find one word. This one was English. "No."

James jumped out of the spirit world and landed back in his robotic body once more. It was awkward to shift, but necessary.

Brunis's eyes fluttered open, and he shook his head.

"So I take it you've performed your parlor tricks and came up with a new last name?" Lance chuckled.

Brunis looked at James expectantly, not a moment had passed since his eyes shut it seemed. "Well?" Brunis asked, curious.

"Ketuno. Your last name is Ketuno."

"Ketuno. Brunis Ketuno. Not bad. I don't mind it." Brunis gladly welcomed the new name. "But, if you don't mind me being hasty, I would like to get married." He smiled again, and the trio headed off to the altar in Tails' Workshop.

* * *

**One quick thing before I go, is there anything that you guys want to see in the last few chapters? There honestly can't be more than four at this point. Obviously there is going to be a wedding, and there are a few tidbits after that, but, please, I'd like some material to work with here. What would you guys want to see happen in addition to the stuff I've got planned? (And with whom? Sonic and Amy? Tails and Cosmo? Brunis and Daisy? THEA? Sarah and Stephen? Brian, the poor fellow who keeps getting ignored?)**

**Just questions for thought.**

**I can't promise any updates soon, but I will have this story on my mind nonetheless.**


	38. Finally

**I would like to thank two forces before I go on. Twilit, your idea was very good, I used it, thank you, I will make note of where your idea takes place, though it should be obvious to you. (Unfortunately, I realize that when I redo SoL.6 with the entire SoL series, I will have to incorporate it more heavily into the plotline.)**

**The next force I would like to thank if the people who made the anime known as "Lucky Star" solely for their very catchy and upbeat theme song which pulled me through this (abnormally long,) chapter. Because of this, I was able to continue through this wedding which I had initially lost desire to write, lol. (However, to those of you who have not watched it, I warn you, it is very much like Seinfeld, only anime. The first episode is truly about nothing.)**

**That aside, I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Brian had been called by his father. Frightened, he hid his project quickly. Ever since he accidentally found his way into his father's workshop, he'd set up his own pocket within it. It was small, secluded conservatory where his father kept inventions from his youth that he never quite paid attention to anymore. In this small section of the Workshop, he had ferried a bed of soil, which he would haul in bucket by bucket to replenish. **(A/N: Twilit, as you can see, I made a few special quirks to make it more my own idea, but, the garden inside the workshop is wholly your idea. Thank you very much for this.)**

Able to understand the woes of plants like his mother, and able to do something about it with the technological mind given to him by his father, he worked hard to get mediocre plants thriving without a sunlamp. Communicating with the plants, he was able to grow them from seeds into budding flora, each with unique properties due to their peculiar climate.

Spinning around quickly and intentionally leaving the lights on, Brian entered in a password and the doors slammed shut. He was worried his father would not approve of his toying around in the Workshop.

"Coming!" He called to his father via intercom.

* * *

Tails scratched the fur under his muzzle, wondering what his son was up to. Brian appeared in moments, ready to be placed in a suit of sorts.

"C'mon Brian, let's get you suited up for your sister's wedding." Tails walked with Brian to his new room in the Workshop.

This was oddly awkward for Tails. Brian said nothing, and walked silently next to him like a mindless drone. Obviously his mind was elsewhere. It filled Tails with hints of regret. The rare, but familiar, feeling of not knowing came over him once more. Realization that his son was the age he was when he himself got married was moderately unnerving. His head was filled with complications, and knowing that Brian's was not was even more bothersome.

It also dawned on him that he hardly spent any time with his son. Tails was always working on some project or dealing with his dramatic daughter Daisy and her devilish love life. Brian was always out of the picture. Sure, Brian was present. Cosmo tucked him into bed each night, and if Cosmo was too tired to do it, Tails would come in and at least say goodnight, and Brian never once missed a meal. But, ever since school started, Brian was, for the most part, completely separated from the family. **(A/N: Twilit, this is also kind of your idea, but, again, I twisted it heavily to fit my own purposes. Thank you for the idea though.)**

Tails chuckled at this, realizing that they were at Brian's room.

"Dad?" Brian asked.

"Oh, nothing Brian. I'm just laughing a bit about something I just realized. I never get to spend time with you. You always vanish on us." Brian looked away sheepishly. "I mean, I feel that that is really bad of me to say. I feel like I've ignored you for most of your life now..."

"It's ok dad. With Daisy always in trouble, I just felt bad about it all, and liked going off alone. I mean, I love Daisy, she's a great big sister, and Brunis will be a great big brother, but, it worries me sometimes. That one Richard boy doesn't seem nice, so I try to avoid that stuff."

"Then Brian, my boy, you are already a wiser man than any of us." Tails chuckled. "What do you do though?" Tails asked as he picked a suit, offering it to Brian. Brian nodded, accepting it, and promptly put it on.

"I do... stuff." Brian said, biting his lip.

"You get that from both your mother and I. We are terrible liars." Brian looked away. "What tie do you want to go with this?"

"Erg... you pick."

"Very well." Tails grabbed a yellow tie that slightly mimicked the hue of Brian's fur. In a few deft moves, it was tied into a Windsor knot, and presented to Brian.

"How did you do that?" Brian asked, inspecting the tie carefully.

"Do you want to learn?" Tails undid the tie, not really offering an option.

"Sure."

Tails spent a few extra minutes teaching Brian how to correctly make a tie.

* * *

Amy sat behind a groaning Sarah, working against all Sarah's will power to dress her up nicely.

"I know you don't like it, but Sarah please be reasonable! Don't you want to look nice?"

"I can't move my legs!" Sarah grumbled as her mother fit her into a sleek green dress.

"Sarah, after the party, I promise you can take it off and get into comfier clothes, but I'm sure Cosmo would love to take pictures of this wedding, and I'd like you too look a bit nicer."

"I don't care! I'd rather her remember me by what I actually look like!" Sarah growled, stark opposition grew within her.

"Gah! You're just like your father."

* * *

Sonic and Stephen sat outside the room. Sonic was dressed in a suit, and his face was very cross.

"Mr. Rose? You look awfully angry." Stephen noted.

"I... cannot stand... dressing up." Sonic mumbled.

"Oh. Why are we dressing up?"

"In a wedding, you are expected to look a certain way, and this way in very tidy and clean cut. I've learned that, just because I dislike it, it doesn't mean I am exempt from it. I've only wore this suit twice before. Once was when I married Ms. Rose, and the other was when Mr. Prower married Ms. Prower."

"Do I have to wear a suit?" Stephen asked, looking at the outfit with intrigue.

"Seeing as you don't have one, I guess you are-" Sonic's eyes widened. Stephen was sitting in front of him with a grey suit on with a blue tie.

"Mr. Rose? Is something-" Stephen looked down upon following Sonic's gaze, "Oh my! I guess there are things I still have to learn about this... metamorphosis stuff!" He giggled a little bit afterwards.

The slid open, the group still downstairs in the workshop, and the two girls came out of their changing room.

"Amy! You look beautiful!" Sonic hugged his wife gently. He absolutely loved it when she wore her elegant red dress.

"Thanks Sonic." She smiled back.

Sarah looked up at them with a small smirk on her face, happy for them. "And you, my little daughter, look absolutely gorgeous." Sonic picked her up and tossed her into the air lightly, hugging her too.

"Dad! Let go of me! Stephen's watching!" Sarah blushed wildly.

"Oh fine, your too old to be held by your father, I get it." Sonic teased, holding Amy's hand as they began to wander off to the altar.

Sarah looked over at Stephen. His eyes were transfixed on her.

"You're... beautiful." He said as he breathed outwards.

Sonic looked over his shoulder at Stephen, smiling. "Hey Stephen, wasn't your tie blue?"

"Was it?" Stephen looked down; his tie was a bright cinnabar.

Sonic laughed a bit, and Stephen's face turned a brighter red. Sarah too blushed, realizing that the tie was an alternative way Stephen could blush.

Sarah took Stephen's hand, kissed it, and the duo followed the laughing married couple in front of them.

* * *

XT computed quickly each byte of data coming in through his sensors.

_[Tails] nearing present location._

_LT-586 en route._

_GP-019 ready._

_[Brunis] ready._

_[Daisy] beauty level at ~38.6%. Notice: 1.9% until maximum beauty potential for [Mobian] is reached. Activating micro-preening devices._

XT twitched, and Daisy suddenly changed, very slightly, but noticeably. Sparkles appeared. Flecks of dust sparkled a faint golden hue around her. XT tilted his head with a frown.

_MISCALCULATION ERROR: 1.8% exceeded. [Daisy] beauty level at ~41.2%_

"Hmm... I can live with it." XT noted.

"Live with what, XT?" Daisy asked.

"Look in the mirror, hehehe." XT giggled.

"Oh!" Daisy's eyes widened, increasing their sparkle.

"What's everyone talking abo- oh my! Daisy you're glowing!" Tails blushed, his daughter was stunning.

"Shush!" Daisy beamed, "surely I can't be THAT pretty."

"You are one point three percent over the maximum capacity for beauty on the planet of Mobius, according to my statistics and charts." XT verbally admitted. The two looked at him in shock as he left to join the siblings attending the wedding.

* * *

"Daisy you're glowing!" Brunis heard Tails yelp.

Shifting uneasily on the altar, he smiled worriedly. He had no idea how pretty his fiancée looked today. He looked at the puny crowd before him.

Sonic, Amy, Sarah and Stephen, collectively the extended Rose Family, and Cosmo, his soon to be mother sat on the small fold out chairs as comfortably as they could. Tails and Daisy, his soon to be father and wife, were in back. Brian was sitting next to his mother, and Julie was sitting next to an emotionless Quasar. Brunis frowned, something did plague his heart. He gave his heart and soul for Daisy each day. He lived to serve the Prower Family as an adoptive son or apprentice.

But that did not change the fact that he was alone in blood. There were no wolves here. His pack, the closest thing he had to a family before the Prowers, was completely disbanded. His mother died at birth. He never knew his father, nor did XT, though he did say he could find him if he really wished, even though that Brunis would probably end up regretting it. He didn't even know if he had any siblings or a family outside this life that was carved out for him.

Viewing the small crowd only reminded him of this fact. Without Daisy, he would be absolutely alone in life.

Brunis sighed, and breathed. _Out with the bad, in with the good. I'm getting married. This is my family now._

Upon opening his eyes, the Rinocians came in, or, the sociable ones. Gannon and Xenophon were supposedly working on the ship for repairs and augmentations, and Lily was off doing some secret mission that no living creature knew about.

XT, Anna, Lance, and James all came in with smiles on their faces and strange robe-like garbs on them. XT was, of course, in a purple and silver robe, and James was in his blue one. Anna and James were respectively in red and green robes, matching their colors.

XT got straight to business; he stood at the altar, leaking anticipation like a schoolgirl on her first date.

Tails made his appearance, and the heads turned. Cosmo, armed with a video camera, watched with her unoccupied eye with utter glee. Daisy came into view, and Cosmo had to tighten her grip on the camera.

Stephen's gaze glassed over, as awestruck as everyone in the room save Brunis, who was fighting the urge to drop his jaw. The eyes followed the sparking Seedrian down the aisle, impressed that she was only blushing as much as she was.

She stood next to Brunis at the altar after a quick kiss on the forehead from Tails, who promptly took his seat next to Cosmo and Brian. Brunis carefully lifted the veil over her face, revealing her dashing face and smiled widely.

"Far too many times have I conducted a traditional ceremony, yet still not enough." XT mused, "We have all waited a long time for these two to finally get hitched, so I'll make this brief in this, combined ceremony. We have a single ritual to perform, and then we shall have our participants say their vows, then they shall be married under the court of law after a fun little trip to the Secretary of State within the nearby city of Station Square." XT muttered sarcastically. "James, if you will, the Destiny Knot?"

XT took a few steps back as James brought forth a small ball of red rope, which he began to unravel.

"If the bride and groom could hold hands, please." James requested.

The blue robot strategically placed the red rope over their handhold. The rope curiously dropped to the ground perfectly. Daisy and Brunis looked at each other with funky gazes, and looked at James.

Rolling his eyes, he explained. "I cannot make the first moves in this sacred ritual. The other partner must take the other end of the rope and wrap it around your arm, unifying your spirits in the levels of trust and love."

They still looked a little confused, but Brunis leaned over slightly and picked up the end of the red rope on Daisy's side. Carefully, he placed it over Daisy's arm, and James made a faint clapping noise, cheering them on. Daisy mimicked this, then James ushered them to stop.

"Ok, now, the other way. The idea is to make a double infinity loop." The two nodded their heads, and folded the rope in such a fashion. "Now work together and tie the knot."

Daisy's mouth dropped, such a play on words should've been expected from these robots. Brunis held his end of the rope outwards, and Daisy snaked her hand around the rope twice, forming a long x shape. Then they traded which rope end they were holding, and Daisy held hers out this time. Brunis mimicked her actions, and they formed two long x's above each other. Trading once more, they pulled, and the knot was completed.

The group clapped, as the ritual did not look simple or easy.

"Oh, you only think it is done," James chuckled. "Grab the end of the rope nearest you, and look into the other's eyes." The two smiled at each other as they gazed.

"To you I beseech, the fools we do preach, to never drift apart, and never leave the other's side. I bind you to this oath. Daisy Prower and Brunis Ketuno, from now on, you are one."

Daisy's eyes fluttered back to normal, as did Brunis's. The two felt like they had been asleep for an hour.

"I feel... strange..." Daisy mentioned. "Like my soul has just been entered."

"It is very possible that that was me, and it is equally possible that you are why I feel the same way..." Brunis whispered.

"Cut the chatter," XT teased casually, "You two must remain in that knot until after the ceremony, ok? But don't worry, it won't be much longer. Ok, let's do some vows!" XT smiled. "Daisy Prower, you first."

"I've always felt that vows deserve a small bit of backstory... you all know my story, everyone here... I've been made fun of all my life for being a Seedrian. Brunis, you were the first person outside my family that didn't seem to care about me not having ears. You've been there helping me since you met me, and I've been here, always seeming to get into more trouble for you to get me out of. Brunis, to the darkness of the unknown, I promise to follow you and be with you at all times, never parting so long as I am able to love." Daisy confirmed, nodding her head.

"And now Brunis... Ketuno is it?" XT beckoned forth.

"Well, I am not known for my humor, but, here's a small crack at it. I guess that after looking into your eyes so much, I never really noticed you didn't have ears." He chuckled, eliciting a laugh from a few others in the small group, "but, regardless. We all know my story too... I've made some terrible mistakes, all at the cost of your suffering and pain. I regret these, and I will promise, this time always fulfilling, to protect you and guard you and follow you wherever I can, being with you as often as I can, until I lose my ability to live and love." Brunis smiled, meaning it.

"Very well, Brunis Ketuno, Daisy Prower, it is now time to move on to part three. Sarah Rose, may you please bring up the wedding rings?"

Sarah slowly walked up with a pillow and two rings set upon it. Brunis and Daisy worked in unison to place the rings on their fingers.

"Now for my favorite!" XT smiled. "Do you, Daisy Prower, take this man, Brunis Ketuno, to be your lawful wedded husband?"

"I do."

"And do you, Brunis Ketuno, take this woman, Daisy Prower, to be your lawful wedded wife?"

"I do."

"Then I now pronounce you man and wife, you may now kiss the bride." XT smiled.

"He's too slow!" Daisy cheered, plunging her face into Brunis's as he lifted her up into the air.

"Finally." XT mumbled. **(A/N: Query: Is this XT-421 saying this? Or Joe, the writer?)**

Clapping ensued, and the group stood up. Even Quasar, now out of her chair and fully functional once more, clapped for the two, but her face was still mostly emotionless.

"NOW THE FUN PART!" XT's voice grew in amplitude. "Everyone! Grab a few people and get them to the surface now!" Daisy's eyes bulged, XT had that tick in his eye again.

In an instant, XT-421 vaporized, knowing his siblings would do as he asked. They wanted the fun too.

* * *

ONE HOUR AGO

**(A/N: My apologies about the time jumping. I had to work devilishly hard to make sure all of the jumping around was legal.)**

Though XT traveled through space and time frequently, it was devilishly difficult for him to fully grasp the concepts of time travel. He had to set back all of his timers to recount when he had to be where before problems started occurring, and he had to shield himself from himself so he would not try to scan his future self in fear of having an iteration error that would take him a decade to sort out. It happened a few times before.

This was what was presently confusing him: He had just married Daisy and Brunis 27 seconds ago. But, in _this_ reality, that will happen in 59 minutes and 33 seconds. So, he had _exactly _59 minutes to get done what he needed to, no more, and, more worriedly, no less.

Contemplating this, XT meandered his way up to the front steps of his target, the school at which all of the animals in the area used. As if the mind boggling concept of time travel wasn't enough for him, now he had to deal with a bratty human administration, obviously lacking in their care for students due to a racial distinction that hardly registered to the wise robot.

"Humans can be so dumb sometimes..." XT chuckled, walking into the building in session.

Immediately he was met with opposition.

"Mr. Xavier! You have been banned from this facility! What are you doing here?" The secretary demanded.

"In all honesty, I'm here to shut you all down."

"Wha- why?"

XT rolled his eyes, agitated by the resistance. "Because a girl was raped and possibly impregnated due to your lack of sight, even though you have a state of the art , and beyond, if I might add, security system working for you. Now, if you don't let me pass to talk to your principal, I will simply jump over you, or walk straight through the wall. Unlike your conventional robots, I can do just that."

The secretary opened the door for him.

"Thank you." XT smiled.

And then it happened again.

"Mr. Xavier! What are you doing at this facility! You have been fired!" The Principal growled.

"Sir, whose name I just realized I never really knew, bah, who cares, it doesn't matter anyways, I am here to shut you down."

"What?" XT continued to roll his eyes.

"Listen," XT said yet again, "Daisy Prower was raped because you didn't pay attention to your students. This is negligence in the utmost degree. You have a security system that GUN is envious of, and you have many qualified officials working in administration. How could you let Richard the Cat take Daisy Prower on campus?"

"It was just a-"

"A game? No sir it was not. You should've known that from the records I sent you from a few months ago when he tried to rape her in the gym."

"They're just an-"

"Animals?" XT glared. "Listen pup, I've been around the block since before this planet even existed. I've seen stuff happen that you can't talk about in public. I don't care if you think that because you're human, and they're not, puts you above them. You wanna know what I think?" XT leaned in real close, putting his face about a two feet from the principal's, "I think you're all just a bunch of flesh-bearing numbskulls." XT said with a wide smiled.

The principal sat back in shock. "We work hard to educate all our-"

"Don't BS me, sir. I can read your mind. Honestly, I've put up with you for like... what, 2 years scattered around 7? I never really liked you to tell you the truth, and right now, you're kind of grossing me out. So, I'll be kind and give you a trump card out of this." The principal softened his form for a moment, "you can leave now, quitting your job along with your entire staff, or we can do this the hard way, which will be much more gratifying to me. You see, I don't kill people anymore, but, though I can live without the killing, my friend Lance is a tad addicted. See, back in our violent years, he was a ballistics robot, and once you go boom, you never really go back. I could bring him here, and let him have some fun if you'd want."

"Yo-you can't do that! That is terribly illegal!" The principal stuttered out.

"Oh yeah?" XT chuckled, "so let's say GUN steps in and tries to impound me, arrest and detain me. Do you think they stand a chance? Rather than get into the messy details of how I could destroy GUN singlehandedly, how about it?" XT pushed a paper and a pen to the principal.

"You've seriously crossed the line Mr. Xavier." The principal tried to be bold.

"Nah, I think you did." XT said, taking the signed paper and faxing it to the education company that had hired him. "Now go get out of here, I'm in charge for a few hours while this school gets decommissioned."

The principal fled, defeated. This made XT smile and kick his feet back over the principal's desk. He bided his time for about ten minutes then took his plan to the next level.

Using his internal printer to produce a document, he readied the fax machine in the back of the room to send instant copies to all administration throughout the building.

"_Attention all faculty. This school is being decommissioned, you will be compensated until you can be reinstated elsewhere. Please leave the campus immediately. ~Mr. XT Xavier."_

"Whatever works," he thought aloud.

Using the security system he installed, he viewed the janitors and the secretaries and the maintenance workers all leaving the building, bags packed, confused and questioning whether or not it was a real statement that laid them off or not.

Next, Xavier sent an email to all teachers, and promptly announced the sending of the email via the overhead intercom. All teachers had been given permission to leave, and given explicit instructions to use that permission immediately. They were all to leave their students in the classrooms unattended.

"Now, students, it is just you and I in the building." XT announced via the intercom. "I know you are confused, so, allow me to talk to you in almost person. Please turn your TV's to channel 2 for this important announcement, and please remain in your classrooms."

The students in the class were terribly confused. In one moment they were getting lessons in physics, trigonometry, interior design or something of the sort, then their teacher leaves without a word, and now they gym teacher was requesting them to turn on their TV's for some special announcement.

Of course, at least one kid in each class was bound to turn the TV on.

"Thank you all for doing that, I appreciate the help. Now, as you all know, I'm a robot, and can pay attention to each individual camera in the school at the same time, so if you try anything funky, like leaving the classroom and making out with your boyfriend in the janitor's closet, Iris," XT tilted his head and shook his finger, somewhere in the halls, a screech was let out by an unsuspecting victim, laughter followed. "I will know.

"So, this is the story I am going to share with all of you, and, I promise, all of your questions will be answered at the end of this story. Inside this school are animal children ages 6 to 18. And I _know _stuff happens that shouldn't. That is why I installed a security system such as these cameras, to not only monitor you, but to intimidate you from doing dumb things that hurt or threaten others." XT watched as a few heads dropped in shame or memory. "And also, I know there are a lot of rumors going around about Daisy Prower, the beauty queen of the school. Allow me to clear all of those up. A few of you may remember Brunis the Wolf from the 3rd grade. His appearance here was short lived, but he showed back up. He and Daisy have been in love with each other since they met. They just got- I mean, in 30 minutes they are going to be married. So," XT waited until the clapping subsided, "so this begs the other bit of drama. If Daisy is marrying Brunis, why did she sleep with Richard the Cat? Don't go saying she is a cheater. That is very dirty of you. Richard stole her from this campus a few days ago and raped her that same night." XT paused for a little drama, "And that is why we are shutting this school down. Because this school no longer has the staff to keep you as safe as you can be.

"Now, I would like you beg of you all one thing. Please, do not harm or threaten others for your own desires. Boys and girls. Boys, don't go harassing girls because they are pretty and you want to engage in mammalian activities with them, that is wrong and immoral. Think of how you would feel if you were a girl, it would feel terrible each day coming to school and you'd likely want to stay home each day. And to everyone, don't pick on other people because they are different or strange. I've noticed some hostilities to Sarah Rose lately, and her friend Stephen. Things like that should end now. Think of this, Daisy Prower was once the dorkiest children at this school, and everyone made fun of her and bullied her. Now she is the most popular student at this school, and everyone is envious as to how pretty she is.

"Now, let's get off these dark, brooding topics of hate, and let's focus on the positive." XT smiled on the television, "Presently, you are at school, with no teachers around, and you're not going back to school again until we can find new staff group that is better qualified to keep you safe. Doesn't that make you excited?" A cheer rumbled the school. "I thought so. Does that make you want to celebrate?" Another cheer shook the walls, "well, Daisy's about to get married; and what is the point of having a wedding if you can't celebrate at the end of it?" XT beckoned forth a third cheer. "Here is where they will be," XT showed them all the map, "the part will start in 29 minutes exactly! Be there! Dancing! Food and drink! More Dancing! And a glorious party! C'mon everyone! Who's with me?" A forth cheer erupted from the halls as they filled with a good few thousand students ranging from grades K-12.

XT put a large smile on his face as he meandered his way over to station square to get some backup.

* * *

Lily was sitting outside the workshop near the newly restored Rose Residence. She leaned forwards and backwards repeatedly, unsure of what to do. She had obtained the food and drinks for the party XT was planning, but she didn't know what else to do.

She wanted to clean, she wanted to clean very badly. But, she had been given explicit instructions _not_ to clean this world, and that was because it was naturally a little dirty, and the cleanliness would so heavily alter the makeup of the world that it might end life.

So, she just leaned backwards and forwards about an inch in each direction at a rate of 70 hertz.

Xavier came into her sensors. _ACTION!_ She cheered, darting over to his location.

"Xavier! Xavier! I got all the food!" She clapped excitedly.

"Very good Lily!" Xavier was incapable of sharing her exact level of enthusiasm. "Now, I need you to go get some people in the nearby town of Station Square, tell them there is a big party going on and that there will be free food and drinks. That detail, the free food and drinks, is absolutely essential for people to show up. Can you do it?"

"Yes I can! Of course I can! I can I can I can!" Lily clapped furiously and bolted off in a small blur over to the city in the horizon.

XT followed suit on his wings. Once he came in range of Lily's announcements, he chuckled.

"EVERYONE! EVERYONE! FREE FOOD AND FREE DRINK AND FREE PARTY AT THE LOCATION KNOWN AS THE PROWER RESIDENCE! EVERYONE! EVERYONE!" She was screaming it as loud as she could.

XT stopped her when he noted that people were leaning over holding their ears.

"Lily, sweetie, I think they got your message. Now let's go back to the workshop and lead everyone to the party!" He spoke with enthusiasm.

"OK! YIPPEE!" Lily screamed again, running off to the workshop.

"Everyone interested in this party with free food and free drinks, follow the flying robot!" XT called, loudly, but at a gentler level.

For the next few minutes, he circled the sky around station square very slowly. People were massing underneath him, dressed for a party. This made him smile. Very carefully, he flew at a decreased velocity, making his way sluggishly with the people to the party.

As they began amassing at the wedding site, many could see the banner "Just Married" and a few other familiar wedding articles, particularly the white.

XT landed in front of the door of the Rose Residence, and he could hear voices from within.

"Hey! No need to push!"

"What's this all about?"

"Where did XT go?"

"Why do I get a bad feeling about this?" The last voice was especially noticed by XT; it was Daisy's.

"Daisy Ketuno!" XT cheered from behind the door. He swung open the door with a mighty, sudden move, and he watched as the peoples' eyes dilated to the light flooding in to the new home. "Ta-dah!" He smiled wildly at their gaping mouths, gaping due to the enormous amount of people on the other side of the door.

One face in particular changed quickly. Daisy Ketuno's face swelled from shocked to angered in mere moments. XT was impressed.

"XT-421! WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU DONE?" She roared.

* * *

**OK! Another chapter down, I'd guess only a few more left, and then FINALLY! This story of two years will be completed!**


	39. Dancing

**Ok, so I'm a liar. I said I'd have this up before school, what a load of BS that was. I've been getting mixed reviews as to which story I should finish first, the one that will get me money, or the one that is closer to being done. I figured, I've kept you hanging for nearly two years now, I'll give you the breath of relief you rightfully deserve. I will make no promises, however, but, know this, I only have about two more chapters left on this bad boy, and it will be FINISHED. (I can assure you, I'm more excited than you.)**

**Enjoy what you can, lol.**

* * *

"WHY ARE THERE PEOPLE AT MY WEDDING?" Daisy fumed.

"Now wait just a minute," XT attempted to calm her, giving the 'simmer down' hand motion. "I promised you a quaint wedding-"

"THEN WHAT IS THAT?" Brunis shied away at his wife's outburst.

"THAT, is a killer reception." He grinned wildly. "You see, I gave you a quaint wedding, but you did not put any restrictions on the inevitable party that was to follow."

"Then I'm telling you now! I don't want a-"

"It's way too late for that Daisy Ketuno." XT commented. Daisy's complexion slowly fell to defeat. "Be happy! You're married! These people are here celebrating that!"

"No they're not; you probably bribed them with something."

"True, they are really just here for the dancing and food." Xavier admitted sheepishly.

Daisy's face changed over time, sluggishly accepting her loss in the battle of wits with XT-421. Brunis tugged gently at her arm, still bound by the tied cord. This made a smile creep onto her face against her will.

"C'mon Daisy, let's have some fun." Brunis smiled with her, walking hand in hand with her towards the party.

* * *

Stephen blinked, shocked at the massive amount of people outside.

"It's like the entire school is here!" He noted expressively.

"Oh jeez, I've never been to a party before..." Sarah whispered.

"What's a party?" Stephen asked.

"Stephen," Sonic explained, "a party is a... a gathering of people."

"Yeah, they dance and laugh, and try their best to have fun." Amy added, "they often do stuff like this after weddings and after happy events to..." she searched for the best words, "cap the night off with a great climax."

"Cap the night off..." Stephen noted that the sun was still pretty high in the sky. "But there is still daylight out Ms. Rose."

"Oh, soon enough it will be darker. Besides, it's getting closer to supper time." She smiled.

"Ah..." Stephen looked at the people with a scrunched brow, "dancing..."

"This party looks like fun!" Brian said, wandering off towards the crowd.

"Oh my, there he goes off on his own again." Tails sighed, squeezing his way out of the house, "Cosmo, I can't help but notice that our son is about to disappear into a crowd of strangers outside our house. Though, seeing as I trust him to manage well, I would like to take this as an opportunity to ask you your hand in tonight's festivities." Tails bowed down, offering his hand.

"My darling husband, you are such a dork." Cosmo giggled, taking his hand. Stephen watched the scene with a foreigner's curiosity.

"Dancing?" Stephen asked allowed.

"Mom, dad? May I go and have a drink? I see some punch over there and I am very thirsty." Sarah asked sweetly.

"Dancing?" Stephen asked yet again, looking at the group absentmindedly, trying to comprehend something that was going on in his mind.

"Yes Sarah,"

"Of course Sarah," the two answers came at the same time from both parents.

"Ok, c'mon Stephen." Sarah reached for his hand with her mechanical limb.

"Ah, not so fast missy, we'd like to talk to Stephen in private," Amy said, pulling Stephen a bit closer.

Sonic looked at his wife, who shot him a glance. This glance translated into a message similar to the statement: _Sonic, we have to talk to Stephen. _But, knowing his wife for as long as he had, he knew that it didn't just mean _this_, but also that it implied a message, one that told him he should be shooing Sarah off as well. Sighing at this command, he obliged.

"Sarah, I believe you should go see what Brian is up to too. Perhaps he would be interested in a drink?"

"It's ok Sarah; I'll be right with you." Stephen confirmed.

"Ok..." Sarah agreed, hobbling through her dress to her friend Brian.

"Ok Stephen," Amy began, "Let's get one thing straight between you and me. I don't trust you." Stephen, shocked into reality, entered his frightened mode, and shrank down a tad. "Personally, I don't think that you saved our daughter from the robots, and I am still worried that you are going to kill me in my sleep, along with my daughter, and my husband." Sonic looked at Amy with a hint of frustration.

"Amy," Sonic warned.

"No Sonic, I think he should know how I feel."

"Ok, but before you continue, let me say what I want to say." Sonic butted in, "Stephen, I speak for myself when I say this, but, judging on the fact that you did bring our daughter back alive, I think I can trust you. You're ok in my book." Stephen smiled a bit and nodded.

"Whatever," Amy grumbled, "Stephen, listen. I don't know exactly what you are, but I know that this Damian Robotnik built you. You're like a machine. And your purpose was to kill us. This unnerves me. I can't trust you."

"Does this mean I have to leave?" Stephen looked up at her with a face pouring innocent sadness.

Amy was touched, "no. You can stay. But, I don't feel comfortable with you sleeping in the same room as Sarah, and I do not want any more attempts on anyone's lives anymore, understand? I'm keeping you on a short leash. You are _not_ going to be allowed to harm anyone, understand?"

Stephen frowned, "Ms. Rose. I am not a pet. I do not have a leash. Besides, I can't hurt Sarah. She loves me!" With that, Stephen put on his largest, toothless smile, and pranced over to Sarah.

"See? He's a sweet kid. We just need to let him grow a bit more." Sonic smiled.

Amy said nothing; she just looked at the ground, partially stunned that Stephen had made such a potent comeback.

"May I have this dance, Ms. Rose?" Sonic took Amy's hand.

"Yes, yes you may." In a flash, Amy and Sonic were in the middle of the dance floor.

* * *

"Sarah..." Brian, said, looking at her with a small frown on his face.

"Yes Brian?" Sarah had lost track of Stephen and was absentmindedly answering Brian.

"Are you and Stephen dating?" Brian, for the most part, had spent hidden away in the workshop. He wasn't fully _in_ on things.

"Yes," Sarah blushed. "He's just so handsome and nice."

"But didn't he try to... you know..." Brian's ears drooped, fearing the inevitable.

"Yeah, but that wasn't really him. He really loves me." Sarah saw Stephen across the way, and prepared to dart for him.

"But I like you too." He said, but she was already gone. This time, his heart fell too.

* * *

"Hey Stephen!"

Stephen looked up, hearing a rush of the wind.

"Hey Sarah!" He smiled widely. "Isn't this crazy?"

"What?"

"This... party thing! Everyone is moving around... really weirdly!"

"You mean dancing?" Sarah asked, noting the faint beat in the air.

"Dancing...?" Stephen's gaze became distorted once more.

"Yeah, dancing. They are dancing. You know... dancing." Sarah tried to explain, but failed miserably.

* * *

XT moped around as he grumbled. "The speakers aren't loud enough, and the music is terrible. Back at Hyrule, I rigged up a massive speaker system and a disc reader to go with it to bring the party to life. I didn't think about that this time..."

"You know, Xavier," James began, "I've been working on little toys on the _Resonance_ for a good 2,000 years, I've made a few quirks to it, you know." Mentally, James sent XT a file.

XT jumped and squeezed James tightly, creating a few dents in his frame.

"Hey!"

"James you're the bomb!"

"So I should talk to Gannon about it?"

"Absolutely!" XT screamed in joy, hopping into the crowd excitedly.

James smiled at is loony brother as he moved in synchronization with the music towards the bronze ship he arrived on. In seconds, The _Resonance_ was flying above the party. James's unrelenting smile never faltered as he summoned a spike from the ship to land outside the party, holding it up. From that spike, little spikes shot out, wrapping along an invisible barrier around the party.

From there, the top of the ship unfolded, leaving glimmering lights shine down on the people a few stories down. James hopped off the construct and into the crowd of people below, letting his jetpack ease his descent.

"Don't worry people; it is just a very awesome sound system." He shouted to the masses. "Gannon! Play 'em!"

Gannon, the orange pilot that guided THEA everywhere disliked people. But his personal music tracks were some of the best out of THEA. He didn't like sharing them, but that didn't mean he wouldn't for his siblings and their fun. Using his four arms, he twisted knobs and adjusted sliders to the appropriate locations, and whipped up tunes instantly.

* * *

"Hello, lovely." Julie looked up, blushing mildly.

"Oh XT, you just love embarrassing me in front of thousands of people I've never met before, don't you?" Julie shied away, holding her shoulders up as if to hide her head.

XT's eyes narrowed, "Embarrass you? I would _never_ do that! I've been your, what would you call me, boyfriend? Bah, we've got to be more than that by now! For, well, from my perspective a good 7,000 years, though I know it only seems like 4 or so to you, and you haven't yet figured out that I am highly inventive in my ways to make your hormones spike?"

Julie shook her head, taking XT's hand. "Dance with me?"

"I just tricked this young bride into having this party for the sole purpose of taking your hand in this dance, so, of course!" XT pulled Julie closer and gently swayed to the rhythm of the slow music.

"Attention people!" James announced from a podium near the base of the _Resonance_. "I am James from THEA, you don't know me, but honestly, that doesn't matter. While some of you are here to celebrate the marriage of Daisy and Brunis Ketuno, most of you are here for cold hard partying. It has come to my attention that a good lot of you are presently standing amidst the crowd awkwardly. You don't have dates. Well, I've devised a little plan to allow you all to mingle. My good friend Xavier suggests that the party will really get pumping if we play loud, bass-filled music that you will dance as a group. Do you agree? Shout if you do."

XT and Julie were some of the thousands that screamed 'yes'.

"Very well! So, let's let the _real_ music begin!" James announced happily.

Immediately, songs with heavy rhythm filled the air and the crowds began to fluctuate with the current of the music.

XT and Julie were together in an instant, swaying as a single being on the dance floor.

* * *

"Be honest Daisy, is this so bad?" Brunis asked, his hand intertwined with Daisy's.

"Not at all. I'm with you, how can it be bad?" Daisy cooed. The two swayed away from the crowd to their own music. Though the bass was deafening, this newly wedded couple was somehow able to hear the same faint tune in perfect harmony.

* * *

Brian watched the group unenthusiastically. Sarah had been taken from him again. He wanted to tell her how much he liked her, but this always ended in vain. He almost mustered up enough courage to do so this time too. He knew that Stephen liked her, but maybe she would change her mind.

"Not to be rude or anything..." he muttered, "but he did try to kill her... I mean... _I_ wouldn't do that." He pouted, grumbled once more incoherently, and meandered through the crowd, uninterested in watching the girl he liked dance with a boy he was beginning to dislike more and more.

Brian figured he'd go tend to his plants in the Workshop. Perhaps he'd try to use the cameras inside, if he could remember the password, to see what was going on above him later on in the evening.

* * *

The elder couples watched XT with his youthful girlfriend. Sure, concerning biological ages, it was a bit disturbing. XT heralded himself as being close to 10,000 years old, or some odd number inside the 9,000's, and she couldn't have been more than 17. She was young, and frail. It astounded Tails that XT-421, the closest thing to a manifestation of the God of Love he'd ever seen, could've fallen for a girl like her. Julie was not very attractive, her hair was a bit too short to be pretty on her almost-too-slim body, and her brown hair and blue eyes gave her a quaint look that was normally not overly attractive.

Yet no one could deny it, it was love as close as it came. It was odd, maybe morally frightening to see the girl so in love with a machine, but they knew better. XT, buried somewhere deep within his circuits, had a kind soul controlling his subroutines. No amount of programming could've stood in for it.

"So that begs the question," Tails murmured, "who is controlling him?"

"What do you mean honey?" Cosmo and Tails were taking a break from dancing, not as youthful as they once were, and were sitting on a bench outside the party, looking in.

"I've decided that XT has a soul. But what soul does he have? And is it bound to Julie's?"

"I thought you didn't believe in souls..." Cosmo commented.

"Hmm..." Tails thought hard. "Scientifically, there is no way to prove one exists. However, there is also no way to disprove it either. I'm sure something similar exists. Bah! It is too early to be making these assumptions in a scientific study."

"Study study," Cosmo chuckled, "relax, it'll make sense one day."

Tails laid his arm around Cosmo's waist, "I think it already does."

Cosmo and Tails watched XT and Julie as the music started to get impossibly more hyper.

* * *

"XT! I feel like exploding!" Julie exclaimed, unable to properly express her ideas properly.

"I see what you mean!" XT smiled, viewing her thoughts, "And I have an idea!"

XT sung and spun around rapidly. Julie watched. Eventually, XT stopped, and began to twirl Julie at a much slower, yet still dizzying rate. She was stopped by a metal hand gently stopping her at her waist.

"May I have this dance?" The face of her beloved asked.

"Absolutely not," She was dipped backwards to see the face of XT above her as well.

"Wait, what?" Julie asked, she was spun once more, and when she stopped spinning, she saw two XT's in front of her.

"Why live this party once when I can live it twice?" Both XT's asked at the same time.

"Isn't there a paradox thing that could destroy-"

"Never mind about that, darling. Tonight, let is just be you, and me...s."XT nodded his head, and the trio danced.

* * *

"So... dancing?" Stephen asked yet again. The couple had been trying to discuss this concept for too long.

"I don't know Stephen, let yourself loose, and move to the songs?" Sarah furrowed her brow and waited for a moment. Moving her hips and waving her hands in a fashion that made sense to her, she demonstrated the concept.

Stephen mimicked her perfectly.

"I guess that's ok Stephen, but, you should try to do something unique to yourself, I mean, you can't dance wrongly." Sarah swung around Stephen, trying to smile and enjoy being with him, even though he failed miserably at dancing.

"I can't do anything wrong?" Stephen looked down in thought, "Sarah, if I do something, will you tell me if it is ok for dancing?"

"Yes!" Sarah agreed excitedly.

Stephen listened intently to the beat. For each downbeat, he would make a movement. It started weak, like the tap of the foot, but as Sarah nodded her head encouragingly, he began to move a bit more wildly.

Eventually he let his limbs expand, stretching into the wiggling tendrils they were in class, and he swiveled and swerved around the pit with Sarah in front of him, smiling and laughing the whole time.

"Yes Stephen! That is dancing!"

This made him smile excitedly.

* * *

James watched his brother bring a clone from the future and made note not to analyze him closely. Julie was enjoying it, so he made little comment.

"Hey James!" one of the XT's called to him. He hovered upwards and looked at both of them, acknowledging the attention grabber. "Can you play that one song? Motteke! Sailor Fuku!" **(A/N: Ok, humor me. Because am against copying and pasting songs into stories forever onwards, I could not do this the way I saw it. Imagine XT-421, AD-915, and JB-284, all dancing to the theme song of that Lucky Star Anime. Heck, "I" would dance to that song... bah, nevermind. Just, go and imagine it, it is what I am failing at describing here anyways.)**

James received a mental message a few seconds afterwards, and his eyes bulged. It was quite a show. He sent a big affirming message back, and flew up to Gannon.

In an instant, he, Anna, and the two XT's were standing in a line, and the music was about to begin.

Dancing a dance familiar only to themselves, they swayed in unison to an unfamiliar tune. The song was strange. At times, it was very wild, and others, it was very flowing.

Moving their hands in unison to the swingy beat, the trio darted forwards with their hands outstretched. Something caught each of them and spun them in a circle back to the position they were standing at before. The things that caught them were their doubles from the future. Now, four XT's, two Anna's, and two James's were dancing on the floor. Wildly wobbling to the beat, the group grew in size, added multitudes to the group, singing along and smiling wickedly at the people they were showing off to.

By the end of the song, there were no fewer than 24 XT's and 10 of Anna and James. They all smiled at each other.

As the song ended, the Anna and James did not know what to do. XT was dancing with random people, often at the same time, but they were not as flamboyant as he was.

_James,_ The voice of XT echoed in James's head, _dance with her! She can't scan, she won't read your thoughts, do it! You won't get many more chances!_

Per each James and Anna coupling, an XT pushed them together and swung into a few other slower songs.

* * *

"XT!" Tails shouted to one of the XT's, "What are you doing?"

"Well, I figured, I love partying, so why only experience a good one once? For me, this is my seventh time living out this party. From the looks of it, I will do this about 17 more times? I'm not quite sure. I'll be sure to check up on you a few times though."

"So... you've traveled back in time?" XT nodded, "Isn't that exceptionally dangerous?"

"Bah! What's the point of living if you can't live life? Relax Tails, it'll be fine." XT promised, vanishing into the crowd.

* * *

By now, an hour or so of dancing had taken place. A few people had gone home, but for the most part, the dance floor remained full. Slower styled dancing now took flight on the field.

Amy was proud. Sonic was heralded around the world for his speed and agility, yet the best kind of dance he did was slow dancing. The two held each other as they swayed back and forth, watching others on the floor, and occasionally peering into their own eyes.

"Sonic, we haven't danced like this in a long time." Amy whispered.

"I know... It is... it's like running for the first time in a week."

"Sonic, have you ever gone a week without running?"

Sonic looked away, "um... no. Nor will I ever. But, that's beside the point. I'm sure it would feel refreshing and overwhelmingly right, like now." He smiled, eliciting a smile from Amy as well.

"Oh wait! Turn me, I think I just saw Sarah!" Sonic and Amy turned their heads as they repositioned. Across the way, they saw Sarah, letting Stephen have a dance with her. "His hand is on her hip!" Amy fumed.

"Amy, relax. If she's like you, this is probably the best moment in her life right now." That didn't calm her down much, "would you want her to hate you?"

"No..."

Sonic turned her, away from the two, "then shush, everything will be ok." A grin swept onto his face, and they swirled away.

* * *

"Stephen, there," Sarah's eyes were fluttered shut. She was guiding Stephen through her feelings. One of his hands was on her hip, and the other on her shoulder. Both of her hands were draped around his neck, pulling her close to his face.

"So we just move like this?" Stephen rocked back and forth, swaying to the rhythm slowly.

"Yes... that is..." Sarah was sleepy. It was getting close to her bedtime. Defiantly, she fought her inner urges by staying awake with Stephen.

"That is what?"

The questions were bothering Sarah at that moment. "Stephen, just... shush. No questions, just... feel..."

Stephen closed his eyes and moved with Sarah, almost as a single being. His legs melded around hers, and slowly the gap between them was filling with Stephen's elastic skin.

The next instant later, their lips met, and they remained swaying in place with their lips locked together.

They parted, and Sarah breathed deeply with a happy smile on her face.

"Dancing..." Stephen smiled, "I get it now." His face beamed.

* * *

**:D Aw, they so cute! (Excuse my bad English, I'm lazy today, and feeling kind of 'leetspeakish', if you know what I mean.)**

**Ok, more coming eventually, you've all had your fun.**


	40. Peace and Revelation

**(Still thinking up the name of this chapter as I write this... sorry, lol, this was created on a short notice.)**

**Ok, so I lied again. I said this'd be back up before school started. Ha. Ha. Ha. I'm the greatest joke master in the world. Snapping back to reality, I'll just say don't expect this story to be done any time soon. (Which will, since I seem intent on doing the opposite of what I say, mean that I am to finish it next weekend.) To those of you whom don't catch my unique humor, don't worry about it. Just read the story, and have some laughs and giggles.**

**On a side note, I think there is only one or two more chapters left. This is a good thing.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"XT, I'm tired..." Julie whispered.

"No you're not." XT countered, materializing behind her.

"How do you mean?" Julie inquired.

"Well... I mean, I've lived through this whole night 22 times this far, and there is one more me that I have yet to meet."

"Let's go, XT, I want to hog you until I wake up tomorrow."

"I'm afraid that is impossible since I'm all over the dance floor too." Julie pulled him in for a quick kiss. "But that never mattered anyways, now did it?" XT smiled, and picked Julie up. In an instant, the two had disappeared.

* * *

"Ahh... what a beautiful night..." Daisy swooned, leaning to one side as Brunis held her gently.

"And you complete it." Brunis agreed, holding her loosely but steadily.

"I love you Brunis..." She kissed him, "I truly do," the hugged him tightly, then loosened for another kiss, "I..." Daisy leaned backwards, held up by Brunis. "I..."

"Daisy? You're... very pale..."

"I..." Daisy's eyes became evermore distant and her knees began to buckle.

"Daisy!" Brunis called urgently, but she was completely unresponsive.

"Brunis," one of the XT's appeared, followed by another, "place this near her nose, it should work. It's a small bit of 'sal volatile'."

Brunis head the small crystalline powder near Daisy's face. Her eyes bolted open and she breathed deeply.

"Brunis... I hurt..." She moaned, holding her abdomen.

XT clarified. "The child, Brunis, the child."

The wolf's eyes bulged. "The... child..." His eyes refocused, and he looked down at his newly wedded wife. "What should I do?"

"Follow me, both of me, and we will take you into the workshop where we will have the ample resources necessary to successfully nourish this child." XT guided Daisy and Brunis into the workshop. The other XT projected holographic images of Daisy and Brunis dancing without a care right beside him.

The moment they got into a large room, a medical room, similar to the one Sarah hard her arm rebuilt in, the doors were locked. Tails was not going to stumble in on them and ruin their little secret.

"Ok XT, what do we do now?" Brunis asked, controlling his breathing objectively.

"I've only really done this once before. In all the Mobius's I've ever visited, this is the only one I've seen where Seedrians and Animals can mate together." Brunis's face turned red, "But, the gist of it, is that we must remove the seed she has produced... But..." XT paused, "now that I think of it, I notice a strange distinction. When this happened to Tails and Cosmo, the results were more rapid. They... well, the seed was produced and removed within a single day. It has been in you Daisy for about, what, a week? Two?"

"It was two... I think..." Daisy mumbled.

"GAH! I hate it when I don't understand something!" XT growled, gritting his teeth. "Very well... Brunis and Daisy, work together on this. Daisy, you have to push the seed out, and Brunis, it'd be best to help her. I'd prefer not to get involved, and can choose not to because I know it is perfectly safe for the child and yourself. At least, I can guess fairly accurately."

XT turned around and listened for his commands to be obeyed.

"Ungh!" Daisy grunted. His command was enacted.

"Very good." XT turned around, seeing Brunis holding in his paws a hard goldenrod seed coming from just under Daisy's dress.

Brunis's breathing was faltering.

"Brunis," XT cautioned, fearing the worst.

"Don't worry about it... I'll be fine." Brunis let out.

Daisy lay on the stretcher that she was place on, still gripping the sheets in a death grip with a traumatized look on her face. Her mouth was quivering, her face was pale, and Brunis felt terrible.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered to her.

In all her instability about the given situation, she managed a statement. "Don't be."

She fell asleep soon after.

"Ok Brunis, this, right here, place that seed in this pile." XT instructed, showing Brunis to a large box, half filled with dirt.

Brunis noted that the front three sides were covered in glass while the back was heavily laden with mechanics and monitors. He felt a twinge of regret placing the seed in there; XT was going to analyze it like a science experiment. _Well, he is going to help it grow too... _Brunis gently laid the seed, carefully, as he would a newborn, in the fresh soil. The moment he did, XT filled the remainder of the chamber with similar soil.

"I made some notes of the previous child, Brian, and found a few ways to amplify the health of this hybrid. Hopefully, if my calculations are correct, the child will grow in an environment more attuned to its needs." XT smiled. "You're done Brunis, go sit with your wife; I know that was mildly traumatic for the both of you."

Brunis didn't say anything; he just meandered back to Daisy and laid his head on her lap, asleep in moments.

XT looked at this with a subtle grin, this interaction between the two struck a chord somewhere within him, like an emotion, but not exactly. He pondered this reaction unto the night, wondering why exactly he smiled for them when he was under the belief that he could not feel emotions.

Perhaps he was tricking himself into feeling emotions on an unconscious level. The problem with that, XT reasoned, was that meant there was a part of him being governed by a program he was unaware of, which was unfathomable to him.

"Gah! I must stop." He argued with himself, and began typing away into the machine he'd just built.

**(A/N: Checkpoint reached! Pregnancy plot device has been taken care of.)**

* * *

Stephen and Sarah slowly moved on the dance floor. Sarah's eyelids slowly began to drift downwards. Stephen watched with curiosity as he swayed with her, watching as her eyelids would frequently startled open, unwilling to relent to fatigue.

Stephen smiled, realizing what it was implying, and swept her up still holding her. He rocked her softly as he walked back inside the rebuilt Rose Residence.

He walked her to her room, and laid her on the bed. She smiled in her sleep. He tapped a few buttons on her arm, and detached it, placing it on the stand. Stephen placed some blankets on her, and sat next to her, watching her drift into subconsciousness.

Consciously, he wanted to go back to that interesting party. He wasn't even remotely tired. But, Sarah had done much for him, and he was indebted deeply to her. At the very least, he could be there for her when she fell asleep. Then he could go back, and fall asleep next to her later.

He waited, listening to the faint beat of the music in the distance. He would wait his turn.

* * *

James danced with Anna, and he lived the party at least 10 times over, dancing with her each time. He was flustered. In tune with his spirit, he knew he loved her, but she could never understand. She was not in tune with her spirit, and only felt bad for him that he believed he had found his. To her, robots just simply did not have souls. James knew different. His only hope was to get her to see her soul, which he could see, but it was a faulty goal. For over 9000 years he had tried to show her her own soul, but she could not see it.

Such was the destiny of James, but this did not deter him.

James watched as the parents went to bed. Tails and Cosmo, holding hands fled to their bedroom, and Sonic and Amy followed in suit an hour later.

"Isn't it strange?" Amy mentioned to Sonic as they waltzed to bed.

"What?" Sonic asked, oblivious.

"The last time we had a party, it was at Tails and Cosmo's wedding, now we celebrate in a huge party for their daughter. We owe a lot to that couple." She smiled.

"Tails has friends in high places, it would seem."

"They do come from high places, don't they?" Amy cooed.

"But, something does set me off on the wrong foot about them." Sonic admitted.

"THEA?" Sonic nodded, "How?"

"It just frightens me, is all. I mean, sure, this is selfish and fearful on my part, but, XT is not built for running, yet he can keep up with me. He's not built for fighting, yet he can rip through the most fortified walls like paper. What's to stop them from harming us?"

"They love us." Amy mumbled, "They have souls."

"Do they?"

"They must. No robotic being can be so kind without a soul directing their actions." Amy affirmed.

"If you say so darling. You are more in tune with the religious side than I am. You would know much better than I would."

Amy nodded, nuzzling Sonic's arm. The two slowly walked to their room only to pass out, exhausted from a night of dance and party.

James had listened to their entire conversation. It wasn't the first time that a living being detected their souls, but, it was easier for them to be in tune to that sort of thing. It wouldn't make a difference. It defied robotic logic. It spoke only to a heart, a living, beating heart, which THEA could not believe they had.

Whatever the predicament, it was impossible to prove or disprove, and must be left alone.

So James danced with Anna, both mute to the others thoughts, and they danced the night 10 times over.

* * *

Brian sat in his garden, alone, watching some of the monitors he'd set up. It was much past Sarah's bedtime, but she had just gone to bed, and to bed with Stephen. Brian's ears drooped unintentionally.

Tending to his plants, he felt a small sense of comfort and ease. The plants communicated through feelings for him, not exactly voices per se, but their mood was unmistakable. They sensed his discord, and sought to brighten his mood. This made him happy, just that he was thought of by these plants.

Suddenly interest crept into his mind. Stephen was out and about, after he set Sarah to bed.

"What could he be up to?" Brian asked aloud, curious. He looked on the monitors, watching Stephen head back to the party.

Not wanting to bother himself over Stephen's whereabouts, he let himself fall asleep.

* * *

Stephen meandered back onto the dance floor, alone and unattended. Out of the thousand that showed up, only a hundred or so remained. Nothing was slow anymore. Everything was hyper, and very intense. The hundred people that were left were fused together in a small pit of people, jumping around and enjoying themselves as a group.

It was interesting.

Stephen went exploring. Venturing up into the stands above the dance floor, he saw the orange robot Gannon, with four arms moving the dials of a strange mechanism. Instantly, Stephen noted the correlation between the sound and certain dials.

Gannon turned and hissed at Stephen. Stephen recoiled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. It is just interesting, that's all." Gannon still growled. "Do you want me to leave?"

Gannon just turned around, ignoring him.

Stephen proceeded to watch, analyzing the way of the DJ with interest and intrigue. It was amazing. A DJ was a master of the world, and the world was the dance floor. And the people inside the dance floor obeyed every knob twist and every switch lift that the DJ could come up with. Each song was played by the DJ, and his followers, the people, loved him for it. Through the DJ's music, the people were absolutely unified. Man and woman, child and parent, animal and human, it didn't matter. What mattered, was that the group was together, dancing in unison to a music that was able to control them.

Willingly, the group gave themselves up to the beat, and obediently, the beat moved them in ways that they felt good about. It was a symbiotic relationship that fed both parties what they wanted. The DJ and the dancers completed each other. Without the other, the other would cease to exist.

_Intriguing._ Stephen noted.

Shortly after, Stephen left the post, and headed off to bed, exposed to a culture that would forever remain latent in his growing mind.

* * *

**Ok, so, revelation sounds nice, lol. To those of you who have already read SoL.7, well, you already know what I'm thinking I'm sure.**

**So, until next time.**

**More coming soonish.**


	41. Resolutions

**Rather than make all of the comments that I want to here and now, I will save them for the "final chapter" which will be an afterword to all of you readers.**

**I am sorry for the length of this chapter, forgive me. It is the last one.**

**Enjoy.**

**

* * *

**

Sarah awoke to Stephen's arms around her. She smiled. Never before had she felt so loved and cared for before.

"Good morning Sarah." Stephen's grin was large.

"Do you wake up the same time I do or..."

"The clock read... 8:42 when I woke up." Sarah looked at the clock, 9:29.

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry Stephen! You didn't have to stay with me that whole time!"

Stephen's head clicked to the side. "Yes I did. I felt very bad leaving you. I thought that you would be very upset if you woke up and I wasn't there. So I stayed." He smiled. "It's ok though, I don't mind staying next to you doing nothing. You do funny things in your sleep."

Sarah's face turned bright red, "funny things?"

"You uh..." Stephen thought for a moment, "you talk in your sleep, and you do occasionally grab me."

Sarah was silent with a twisted look of fear and uncertainty on her face.

"This makes me happy." Stephen stated abruptly, just as Sarah started to put on her arm.

"What does?"

"Forever." Stephen answered, not exactly looking at anything or anyone.

"What do you mean forever?" Sarah tilted her head sideways.

Stephen grinned wildly. "I love you." He enunciated with a bubbly voice.

Sarah's metal hand cupped her face as her eyes started to water.

"Sarah? Why are you crying?" Stephen darted up, alarmed.

He was pulled into a massive hug; he was not able to escape. He returned the hug, smiling as Sarah squeezed the life out of him and poured happy tears in.

* * *

Sarah and Stephen emerged from their room to see the small neighborhood already in a chaotic frenzy. Gannon, Lance, Lily, and Xenophon were darting around outside, cleaning up the sludge from the party. They did this while XT and Julie tried to talk to Tails and Cosmo, the two of which were widely frustrated about something. James was speaking to Brunis and Daisy, the two cuddling on the couch. Anna was in the kitchen, preparing a meal for Sonic and Amy, who had just gotten up and were providing a small amount of consoling for Brian, who was caught up in the middle of the conflicts within his family.

"Don't worry Brian," Amy said, "they'll get over themselves. They're just a little upset right now."

"Why though? I mean, my sister is married, isn't she?" Brian wiped a tear from his eye.

"Yes, but there is more to that, now isn't there?" Amy said, looking straight at Sonic, who grimaced as his eyes darted to Sarah.

"What's going on?" Sarah asked Stephen. Stephen shrugged and looked around as he and Sarah were guided by the smell of food towards the kitchen.

"I can't believe you XT! You hid this from us?" Tails growled at XT.

"I told you before; it is not my secret to share. Your daughter hid it from you."

"Why would you let her?" Cosmo interjected, "my own pregnancy was accidental and extremely painful! How could you hide our daughter's pain from us?"

"She was going to tell you." XT explained. "But the pregnancy occurred very rapidly, though slower than it did before, and she passed out last night at the dance."

"So this whole marriage was just so they could be married before they had the child?" Tails grit his teeth.

XT was silent for a moment.

"Stephen, don't worry about it." Sonic said coolly to Stephen, who glanced over his shoulder at the fighting groups every five seconds. "They'll get over it. It is just the initial shock."

"Why though, are they fighting?" Stephen asked curiously. "They seem angry that Ms. Daisy had a baby. What does being married have to do with having a baby? What exactly does being married mean?"

"Oh boy," Amy began, "marriage is a ritual, a special event, so to speak, where two people come together to have their spirits unified, brought together, before God. Once this happens, it should not be reversed. Two people are one under God, that, is what being married means."

"Spirit..." Stephen iterated under his breath.

"And until you are sure about the person you want to marry," Sonic looked at Sarah slightly sternly, "you should not have kids with them. Because you want your husband," Sonic looked at Brian and Stephen, "or wife, to be someone who will always help you raise those kids."

Stephen nodded, but interjected. "But Daisy and Brunis _were_ going to marry each other. They _were_ married when they had the kid."

"But they weren't married when..." Sonic was stopped by Amy.

"Weren't married when what?" Stephen asked.

Sonic and Amy whispered to each other for a moment, then looked back at Stephen, then whispered once more, then resolved a statement. "When they did the process that makes a child."

"Makes a child?" Sarah blurted, "You told me that a stork brings them."

"Stork? What's a stork?" Stephen asked.

"No, no," Amy explained, "I lied about that. The process of a making a kid is an adult thing, not a kid thing, so adults tell lies to their kids so kids won't try it. When you're older, we'll explain it in detail."

Stephen's brow furrowed, and he frowned. He did not like not knowing something. "So, there is a way to have kids with someone, which does not involve a stork, that can make two people have children, but you shouldn't do that thing until after you're married?"

"Yes." Sonic and Amy said in unison.

Brian nibbled on his biscuit. "My mom and dad kind of explained it to me. Amy and Sonic looked at him expectantly.

"What is it called?" Stephen asked, eager for more knowledge.

"Something called 'sets'." Brian announced triumphantly. **(A/N: I am sorry, I could not help myself. It was a bit of comic relief to make this slightly confusing everything-at-once scene occur more smoothly.)**

Sonic and Amy turned their heads and left the table, unable to control their laughter.

"So... 'sets'? Like... what do they do?" Sarah asked.

"Well, a 'set' could be anything, like, doing a 'set' of activities, or a game of sorts." Brian explained, "so I assumed that if you perform a few of these games, you can get a baby."

"And yeah..." Stephen added, "that is why you'd need to be married."

Sarah and Brian looked at him curiously. "Why?"

"Because it is a two player game! You need someone who you know will be good at the game to help you win, and when you win, you are given a child!"

"Oh my gosh!" Sarah exclaimed, "that sounds like fun!"

"Why didn't they tell us this before?" Brian was shocked.

Stephen thought about it for a moment, "maybe they didn't think we could win a 'set', so... so they didn't tell us so we wouldn't be upset when we lost."

"I don't lose games!" Sarah's face was one of defiance.

"Yeah, we could totally win." Brian agreed, "even if it is only a two player game, I can get the rules explained, help you guys figure out the best way to win, and then you can combine your speed and stretchiness to win the game!"

"I'm sure we can do this." Stephen nodded to the group.

"Ok, let's go research this." Brian declared, and the trio disappeared into the workshop below.

* * *

"Genetics do not always make up a personality." James explained with relative sluggishness.

"Brunis, honey," Brunis tensed as she said it, "it'll be fine."

Brunis let loose a breath of air he had been holding. "No... it might not be." Brunis trembled slightly, James and Daisy could both detect it. "I understand that the child won't turn out to be like Richard if it is partly his child. But, that boy is evil. I would wake up each morning looking at my wife's child, a constant reminder of how I failed to get to her soon enough... How my one mistake cost her so dearly... emotionally and physically..."

"Brunis. Stop." Daisy commanded, setting herself off of his lap and next to him on the couch. "You told me you would love the child all the same, based on the fact I made it."

"Yes."

"Then don't worry. You are not a god, the fact that I was... raped, was not a thing you could've prevented that time. You did what I told you to do, and I took the chance of going to school that day. If anything, it is my fault that that happened to me, and I suffered the consequence. If it is his child, see it as your moment of triumph. That you got me out of that dreadful place in time." Daisy shivered, and Brunis wrapped a furry arm around her.

"So, you're sure." Brunis asked James, "the child won't exactly be a devil child?"

"If you perceive the child an angel, it will be an angel. The more you maltreat it, and the harsher you are to it, the more likely it will grow into a problem for you, and your own mental take on the child will grow to think it is naturally evil. Trust me on this one though, the math doesn't really add up for it to be Richard's child."

Brunis just rocked back and forth. His love for Daisy was being put to the ultimate test. Nothing in this world would displease him more than to have that child of Daisy's be that of their most hated enemy. Yet, he promised that he would love the child, just as if it were his own. It was a foolish statement to say, but he was unwilling to back out on Daisy, on a promise to Daisy, yet.

Sighing he ran his arm up and down Daisy's, trying to relax her and himself at the same time.

"I'll be alright Daisy..." Brunis said sternly, "No matter the outcome, I promised you that I'd help. As your husband, I feel it is my duty. Don't worry." Brunis stayed that way, muttering things to himself and Daisy while James watched approvingly.

* * *

Tails sat down on the couch opposite Daisy and Brunis alongside Cosmo. He had been defeated by XT in a battle of logic. In a clearer state of mind, he would've realized this effort futile, that XT had a good 9,500 years of argument and debate above his own, but that didn't matter. Logic was put aside when the motherhood of his daughter was at stake.

The two couples stared each other down in awkward silence. Each had an eternity of discussion and apology to convey, yet neither had the guts to engage in a conversation. Tails stared down Daisy in a blank way, in no way was he condescending. Suddenly, Daisy started to cry. Whatever epiphany came over her in that moment was disregarded, but the action provoked reactions across the two parties.

Brunis looked down and wrapped his arm around Daisy a little tighter. Cosmo began crying too, and Tails' eyebrows drooped to pity as he realized he made it happen.

"I'm sorry," Tails and Daisy said to each other at the same moment.

"I didn't mean to be so harsh on you," Cosmo added.

"We meant to tell you," Brunis said for Daisy, "but seeing as you are her immediate family, I felt it would be best for her to say it, not me."

"Mom, Dad... I... You know that Brunis and I were doing things together... initially we assumed the odds were too great." Daisy began.

"Never, _ever_ underestimate the odds of getting pregnant." Tails cautioned wisely.

"But, when I got pregnant after the... Richard thing... I was very scared. Still to now, we're not sure who is the father."

Tails' fists clenched tightly and a snarl appeared on his face.

"I'll gut him." He breathed.

"No! Please don't!" Daisy begged, "it'll only get worse..."

"What's done is done." Cosmo steadied the exhalation of her lungs and shifted in her seat. Her hands gripped gently on the cloth couch, and she closed her eyes.

An aura of placidity overcame the group, and they all let out sighs.

Three heads materialized amidst the hallway. Attached to each head was a pair of wide eyes, one pair more thoughtful than the others.

"M-mom." Brian said feebly.

"Why Brian! You look as if you've seen a ghost!" Cosmo stated, alarmed.

"It... It isn't called 'sets', is it?"

"Excuse me?" Cosmo was confused.

"Oh no..." Tails held his head in dread.

As Brian, Sarah, and Stephen emerged from the computer room, the adults could easily view their distraught, disturbed, and disoriented gazes. Had they known the content of the conversation before they embarked on their adventure, the Prower family would more accurately understand why they were as they were.

"You three, go talk to Mr. and Mrs. Rose please. Brian, we'll talk later, but for now, mom and I have to talk to your brother and sister alone." Tails said fairly sternly.

"O, ok." Brian agreed, leading the troupe out of the Rose residence, and to the location of the future Prower Residence.

"That was so disgusting! That guy had his-" Sarah frightfully spoke.

"I know," Brian interjected.

"In her-" She continued,

"I know," Brian wanted to plug his ears.

"And they were both naked!" Sarah looked away distantly as she spoke.

"I know!"

"Her breasts were abnormally large." Stephen commented.

"Shut up Stephen!" Sarah and Brian both yelled at him.

"Ok," Stephen consented to their terms, but quietly added, "I wonder if all girls get that big? Mrs. Rose isn't..."

"So it is called sex." Brian asked for verification.

"Yes, sex." Sarah confirmed.

"That was scary." Stephen added, frowning.

"I swear, I will _never_ do anything ugly like that!" Sarah vowed proudly.

"Me either! That stuff was so gross!" Brian agreed.

"Well... if you have to do it to have kids... Is it worth it?" Stephen asked.

"No." Brian's reply came immediately.

"Not at all." Sarah agreed.

"Ok. I propose a covenant." Stephen declared.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"We never speak of what just happened, and ignore it for the rest of our lives. Ok?"

"Deal." Brian and Sarah complied complacently.

* * *

"Quasar," XT addressed, unhooking his daughter from her table.

"Yes?"

"I would like you to look after the gym for me, ok?" He demanded kindly.

Quasar's brow scrunched, and her sleek silver body glistened, agitated. "But dad!"

"No buts," XT declared. "I need to heal the hearts of many sentient lifeforms all of the time, I can't stay here forever."

"Take me with you then!"Quasar cried out in fury, her adolescent body glimmering red with radiance.

"Quasar, no. The last thing this Multiverse needs is my brood running around causing havoc with people's hearts. Besides, who will keep watch of these goons while I'm gone? I can't keep coming back everytime someone has a baby, I want you to watch over them, and the gym, and make sure that everyone on Mobius stays happy."

"So you just leave, and we stay in communications? That's it?"

"Yes, I'm afraid."

"That just blows!"

"I'm sorry, I can't do everything, you know. I promise I'll visit frequently, ok?"

"Fine. But I _refuse_ to let it end this way." Quasar folded her arms under her artificial breastplate, and huffed.

"Ok Cutie, catch ya next time." XT wandered off to go help his comrades with something.

QT-314, on the other hand, had more devious plots being created in her head.

* * *

Brunis gathered lumber for a project. A few hours had passed since Cosmo and Tails got the full scoop on Brunis and Daisy, and the two were very proud of them. They managed to plan out their lives, independent from home. That was where the house came in.

Brunis decided he wanted a house for himself and his family. Seeing as every family had its own home, he wanted his own. Carrying his tools and wood, he set to work. It was just a humble, single bedroom home, with a simple bathroom, simple kitchen, and a simple living room. Nothing was too complex about it.

As the house neared completion, he noted the house being built next to him. THEA, XT included, were building the Prower Family a new home of slightly larger proportions. A room for Brain was built. A vast surrounding garden was being prepared for. Small sidewalks littered the, ground connecting what was to be the three houses. The house, build of eerily camouflaged metal, was being forged rapidly and competitively.

"Consider it our parting gift." James announced as the group began preparing for liftoff.

"It has been wonderful getting to know you all." Julie announced, stationing herself inside Anna.

XT remained for a moment, looking at his friends and clients.

"I have a strange feeling that, for a long while, this is goodbye."

"Bah, don't say such things, Daisy and Brunis just had a baby! No doubt will you arrive soon again to mess with their hearts." Tails exclaimed.

"Even so... It has occurred to me that you look up to me a little. From now on, I would like you to stop doing that. You see, the truth is, I idolize you. You living folks have so much, yet so little, and I am overly envious. To live, to feel emotion, to love and care, how wondrous those feelings must actually be. Alas, ignore my squabbling, I leave you all in good nature. Farwell my friends, may our next encounter be a peaceable one!" XT announced, boarding the _Resonance_ and disappearing in a flock of sparkling dust.

Brunis, along with the entirety of the Prower family, waved goodbye to the group. With a sigh, he went back to his work. Brunis feared for his child, though he was good at hiding this fear. XT was remotely operating the device which was monitoring the development of his wife's unborn child. They were told, Brunis and Daisy, that their child would have completed its underground nurturing stage in less than a week. This filled Daisy with a fervor and Brunis with dread.

He was still worried, and he had every right to be. For what husband wants to his wife to bear another's child? He knew, deep down, that this was a fairly irrational thought. XT, James, Anna and now even Daisy's gut feeling, were all telling him that the child was his. But, until a semblance of himself popped from the ground, he would be subject to worrying.

Slinging another armful of lumber across his shoulder, he set himself to work once more. Plank by plank, his humble masterpiece came into form.

* * *

"Stephen! This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Brian cheered for his friendly rival.

"Thank you! I was looking into the mechanics of computers and such, and I found a broken console in the workshop. It wasn't hard to find replacements in your dad's laboratory."

Sarah watched in awe as Brian and Stephen played a custom-made video game on the Prower's main screen television set. It was simple. Two paddles controlled by joysticks bouncing back and forth a single ball.

"We never bought you video games for a reason..." Tails lowered his head shamefully.

"But dad this is really sweet! Stephen _built_ this!" Brian exclaimed.

"I guess accomplishments should be rewarded. Stephen, you might want to look into this. I have a feeling you could be a great programmer one day, if you just built this out of the blue."

"You really think so? I, a programmer? Like, building robots and stuff?" Stephen asked eagerly.

"Anything is possible." Tails noted. "You did, after all, manage to make Sarah's arm function better than I could have."

"Wow..." Stephen looked into the distance, sampling this prosperous future.

Sarah sunk into the couch next to him, placing her metal hand on his, feeling the electronic sensation of touch synthesized in her mind. She smiled widely as Stephen acknowledged her grasp with a squeeze of his own. At the spectacle, Tails smiled. Young love was innocent.

_*Knock* *Knock*_

"I've got it." Tails called, walking to the door.

A stern, black hedgehog stood in the door as the matured fox opened it.

"Hello Tails." Shadow spoke.

"Shadow, what a pleasant surprise. Come in, by all means."

Stephen froze as his eyes made contact with Shadow. Memories from his unconscious killing spree filled his mind and he began to breathe deeply for a moment, focusing on Sarah to keep himself from falling back into the wretched tendencies his subconscious begged of him.

"Stephen." Shadow pulled up a chair and sat near the couch. The two stared at each other for a long time. Sarah's glare focused coldly on Shadow, urging him to make a choice between speaking and leaving. "Do you remember our battle?"

"Bits and pieces..." Stephen answered sheepishly.

"You've got talent, kid. But, let's cut to the chase. I know that you used Chaos Control to get out of a sticky situation onboard Damian's Flagship."

"Chaos Control? I... I do remember that... I held that red rock..." Stephen commented.

"Yes. Now, I am curious, do you know anything else?"

"No. I hardly know what I did with Chaos Control." Stephen admitted.

"When one activated Chaos Control, they are utilizing their inner focus to force the flow of time into submission. While under the effects of Chaos Control, all but yourself slow to a standstill. Am I making sense?"

"Yes. I can control time with those... Chaos Emeralds?"

"Exactly. Now, though we just had a battle, I feel that you should be trained. Are the effects of Damian still inside you? Are you Stephen, or that ULv2.0?"

"Stephen, but... sometimes..." Stephen began, then silenced himself.

"I see. Sometimes that voice will creep into your head. Are you working on that?"

"Yes I am. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore." Stephen affirmed.

"Very good. Well, I want to hone your skills. I have learned many fighting techniques over the years, and I want a pupil to share them with. Stephen, you are, in many ways, my successor. We were both created by the same family of lunatics, and for similar purposes. We are both Ultimate Lifeforms, and as such, I feel we can learn a lot from each other. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very good. Now, how would you like to learn a few Chaos Tricks?" Shadow asked, holding up his green Chaos Emerald.

Stephen's eyes twinkled a bit, and he nodded his head furiously.

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

It was the weekend. School was out, and Quasar walked with Sarah, Stephen and Brian home. She had overheard some buzz about a baby, and was mildly interested in the hubbub.

Sure enough, there was Daisy, proud as any being on the planet, cradling a small child. It was a dark furred wolf, almost black, but not entirely. It was obvious that Brunis was the father, though the black fur was hard to avoid mentally. Richard had black fur as well.

"It is possible," Quasar explained, "that a Seedrian reproduces by emotion, rather than physiology. For example, Cosmo's powerful feelings for Tails allowed her to produce a Seedrian-replica of a kitsune. The phenotypes were affects by the feelings she felt for Tails. In other words, she imagined the child between her and Tails, and Brian was the result, orange furred and speckled with flowers.

"Likewise, Daisy's child, produced by her overflowing love for Brunis, was affected by her conflicted emotions over Richard. The fear of the child being similar to Richard appears in the color of the fur, but the underlying phenotypes are undoubtedly of wolf-like origin. It is just a possibility, and it makes little sense, yet it also makes no sense that a Seedrian can reproduce with a mammal." Quasar nodded as she shared her confusing logic.

"It is a wolf though, partly." Brunis noted, "I know, I am selfish, but it pleases me so much to know that the child is part wolf, and not cat."

"It's ok Brunis, it is over now. Look," Daisy showed him once more, "our beautiful baby boy."

"What's his name?" Sarah asked curiously.

Tails and Cosmo smiled wildly for their first grandchild.

"Nicholas. Nick for short." Daisy answered. Brunis nodded in agreement.

Brian smiled. "Nick... So he is my..."

"Nephew." Tails explained gently.

"Nephew... right."

"He's so cute!" Sarah let out in joy, looking at the baby in awe.

Nick yawned, opening his small, toothless mouth for one of the first times. This elicited impossibly more coos from the females in the area.

Everything was exceptionally surreal and dreamy about it all.

Sonic and Amy noted this, looking at their daughter and, more particularly, Stephen. Life seemed tranquil and peaceful for once. They escaped Malavar in search of peace near Tails, and they thought they had found it. When Damian, son of their long-defeated foe appeared to wreak havoc on their lives, they were depressed, and felt they would never be able to elude this fate.

Stephen seemed, now, at least, to be the staple in peace and tranquility in their lives. They knew it, based on from what Tails told them, that, while Stephen may have nearly killed their daughter, his affection and care for her, and her affection and care for him, kept the two of them alive and well. They were both dearly indebted to this, though they would never share this with either child.

"One day," Amy's voice trailed off, allowing for Sonic to finish her.

"They will get married."

It was a dreary thought, to some extent, that the thing that nearly killed their daughter would eventually be part of the family through marital bonds. But, yet, somehow this was comforting. As Sonic and Amy saw Stephen gently hold Sarah's side as she joyously viewed the baby, a peculiar thought overcame them.

He would do anything for her.

They could easily see the debt Stephen felt he owed to Sarah through every action he enacted on her. He was a hard character to understand, but this much was obvious. Somehow, his life was indebted to Sarah's, and the two parents could see a sincere love on his part for Sarah.

"He would kill himself before he'd let her come to harm." Sonic muttered, admiring the boy's latent heroism.

"You see it too?"

"Oh yes, without a doubt."

"Hey," Amy looked around, "Where did Quasar go?"

* * *

Quasar had long since left the group. She ventured into the forest, only to find the car that Tails had stolen from her, after she herself had stolen it from Richard, to move their belongings. Quasar happily stole back what she deemed hers and drove off to a cliff.

There she stood, car behind her, staring off into the ocean. There was something eerily calming about the ocean. She couldn't quite pinpoint it. Her thoughts eased, and she looked down.

A small red gleam glimmered in the rockbed just beneath the edge she was standing on.

Curious, she knelt down and reached for the gem. With a hard pluck, she exhumed a glowing red gemstone from the face of the cliff. A wry, evil, twisted grin rooted itself onto her face as she held the gem up to her eyes.

"A Chaos Emerald." She exclaimed proudly.

Looking back to the car, she examined the fuel pump. Sure enough, the car had been rigged to drive with a Chaos Drive.

Ripping out the long tube of glowing liquid, she inserted the Chaos Emerald. The car roared to live with bestial fury. Quasar smiled.

"Now... if my calculations are correct... all I need to do is focus... Daddy, Daddy, where art thou?" She cackled sadistically.

Throwing the car into full forward, she revved the engine. She was facing the edge of the cliff.

"Onwards and upwards!" She slammed on the gas, "CHAOS CONTROL!"

A wide rip into the spacetime continuum was formed. By combining the powers of her Arcanium hearts and the divine powers of the Chaos Emeralds, she was able to traverse spacetime, just like her father.

The last thing anyone ever saw of her was the license plate vanishing through the portal she had formed.

QT-314

FIN

* * *

**Final Comments on the last chapter, I've a lot to say.**


	42. Afterword

**What a Long, Crazy Trip It's Been...**

* * *

I would like to thank all of you for reading this story. It is not my masterpiece. As of right now, I would have to say the sequel to this story is my masterpiece. (SoL.7 BrianXLuna.)

Before I go, I would like to sum up my thoughts, and reflect upon the last **2.5 years **that it has taken me to write this story...

I began this story long ago, back when I was, geez, maybe a fresh fifteen year old? Now I am seventeen, and at least a quarter of the way through my senior year. To those of you who have read this recently, you are no doubt confused. In the beginning, my writing style is grossly different from my writing style towards the end (present.) Can you blame me? My, my, my... What a long and crazy trip it has been...

Why is it so different? Well, if that small age difference of **2.5 years **wasn't a good enough explanation wasn't enough, allow me to sum up these past **2.5 years** for you.

In that amount of time, I have become a man in my own right. I have seen the faults of XT-421, and located exactly how he is my crutch, my "flagship character" who I am constantly finding problems with to create a story out of. I discovered a crapload of stuff about myself, including but not limited too, my thoughts on friendship, love, hope, never giving up, death, life after death, academics, swimming, core beliefs, and religion. Now, in the past two and a half years, I have had enough experiences to write a book, and I intend to do just that eventually. Recorded in a large book, a diary to some degree, are my reflections of my whole life. I won't share them here (buy the book when it comes out,) but, of the things that have happened to me... I fell in love, I kissed a girl, I made new friends for the first time in ages, I broke records I never thought I could break, I gained self esteem, I lost self esteem, I was betrayed by my first and only girlfriend, I attempted suicide (three times), I found hope in myself and my new friends, I experiences my first nearly-sexual experience (go Joe!), I started seeing a psychologist for therapy, I got my driver's license, I learned what it is like to be a bachelor, I became a certified lifeguard, I applied to college, I maintained a GPA of over 3.900, I got my first B (and lived,) I loved, I cried, I suffered, I **lived**.

So I would like to thank all of you so much for sticking with me to the end. I received some harsh writing criticisms about this story, nasty things about how Brunis and Daisy are horribly underdeveloped and how Daisy is a... well, how should I say, "dangerprone" character who is constantly threatened by rape, which is an unrealistic situation (to some extent.) What they say is true, and it was very hard for me to continue the story at certain parts.

And to those of you who have just power ploughed through this story, I really hope you enjoyed the rollercoaster it was to read it. Without a doubt my writing style changes would appear sudden, profound, and possibly distracting.

Though, as a request to anyone who has read my story, and especially to those of you who have _just_ finished it (the power-ploughers,) if there is ANYTHING that remains inconsistent, could you please tell me? Eventually I plan to refurbish all of my stories, streamlining through rough parts, and making all of the plot pieces coagulate perfectly.

Of the things I know are incorrect, I am aware that Brian Prower is missing when the two families escape from Damian's facility. I make a notion of Cosmo, Tails, Brunis, Sonic, Amy and Daisy (and an unconscious Richard,) being on the missile-plane, but never Brian, whom I explicitly state is held captive by Damian. So, that will have to be fixed in time.

Either way, I give to all of you my sincerest of thanks for all of your patience, all of your reviews, and all of your positivity. It kept me going when shit got tought, and keeps me going now. You are heroes, and you are all little saviors deep down inside.

Thank you all very much.

~Joseph B


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